Former West Ham United captain Mark Noble has revealed that Liverpool once considered signing him.
With the exception of loan spells at Hull City and Ipswich Town, Noble spent his entire playing career with the Hammers, accumulating 550 appearances before his retirement at the end of last season. He rightfully earned him the nickname “Mr West Ham” and his time away from the club will have lasted just months once he takes up the role of sporting director in January next year.
Trying to prise Noble away from the Irons may have seemed like a waste of time given his loyalty towards West Ham, but the former skipper has admitted that some clubs were tempted to do so. In an interview with Happy Hour Podcast, Noble revealed that there was ‘a lot of interest’ in him throughout his career and that he faced a tough decision when West Ham suffered relegation from the Premier League at the end of the 2010/11 season.
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Noble said: “There was times where my agent rang me and said ‘look, there is a lot of interest here’ and when my contract was running down. When we got relegated under Avram [Grant] and we went down to the Championship it was a tough time for me because I knew I wanted to be a Premier League player, of course. You want to play in the Premier League, every player does.
“And then I was sitting at home and obviously my phone was ringing saying ‘what do you want to do’ and all that. Then Big Sam [Allardyce] got the job and I thought to myself I’ve been at this club since I was 11-years-of-age and he stuck by me. I just thought...I’m staying. I’m not going anywhere. I’m going to do everything I can to get this club back to the Premier League because I feel like I owe them that.
“After that, when you’re playing for West Ham week in week out and you’re playing Premier League football, unless a top three top four club come in and pay big money for you you don’t go anywhere else, and that’s the truth. Look at the size of the club [West Ham], you don’t.
“I think everyone knew my feelings and my situation for the club. Could I have gone elsewhere and earned more money? Of course I could, because you earn more money from moves and all that.”
Noble was asked about rumours that he was once on Liverpool’s radar, which he confirmed was revealed to him by current West Ham goalkeeping coach Xavi Valero.
“Yes [there was interest from Liverpool],” said Noble. “Actually, our goalkeeper coach, who was at Liverpool at the time, Xavi, he said ‘we spoke about you a lot in meetings’.
“Obviously that never materialised but when I look back now and when I see the send-off I got and the loyalty I had shown to the club and history I’ve created, I don’t care about myself but for my kids and for their kids and for their kids, an extra few grand a week doesn’t compare to that.”
However, West Ham fans will be surprised by Noble’s answer when he was asked which club he would have signed for if there was ever a situation during his career that he would be forced to leave the Irons.
“Manchester United,” he said. “Not even a question. Manchester United was my second team always, if you have a second team. I just loved the way they was. When I grew up, Man United was the club. Luckily enough for me most of my best experiences in football was against Manchester United.”
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