Former Tottenham and Chelsea star Gus Poyet revealed he was offered the chance to play for Melbourne Victory in the Isuzu UTE A-League as part of an incredible press conference in Sydney on Wednesday.
Poyet is currently in Sydney as head coach of South Korean giants Jeonbuk Motors for the return leg of their AFC Champions League Two quarter-final against Sydney FC, who lead 2-0.
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On the eve of Thursday night’s blockbuster clash, the 57-year-old spoke about how close he was to moving to the A-Leagues 20 years ago at the end of a explosive pre-game press conference.
Poyet, who won four titles with Chelsea – including the FA Cup and UEFA Super Cup, and the Copa America, was in Sydney with his wife for the iconic 2005 FIFA Men’s World Cup play-off between the Subway Socceroos and his native Uruguay.
It was at Stadium Australia where the recently retired 26-time Uruguay international was approached by someone from Melbourne Victory.
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“I got a good story to change the mood,” Poyet, who has coached Brighton and Hove Albion, Sunderland, Real Betis, AEK Athens, Shanghai Shenhua and Greece among others, told reporters.
“At that time, someone from Melbourne Victory offered me the chance to go and play. The director box in the stadium. I was retired already.
“He said to me, come to Melbourne and you see the training ground, the game and then you decide.
“I said no, no I’m not going. He said why not, you have nothing to lose? I said because I’m going to like it and I don’t want to keep playing. I prefer not to go (laughing).
“But I was close (to joining). I was already eight months retired. I was done. But I had a great time here, one week with my wife.”
