I wanted to play for Liverpool - but Steven Gerrard helped Newcastle United sign me & I absolutely loved it
Danny Guthrie ‘didn’t want’ to join Newcastle United from Liverpool back in 2008.
The former midfielder joined Newcastle from Liverpool for £2.5million but was initially very reluctant about the move. It took a phone call from then Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard to convince Guthrie to make the move to St James’ Park after getting cold feet.
Guthrie joined Liverpool as a teenager and progressed through the ranks on Merseyside, going on to make seven first-team appearances. But with regular first-team football under Rafael Benitez not forthcoming, a decision was made to allow Guthrie to join Newcastle.
Guthrie was travelling to the North East to undergo a medical and complete the deal back in July 2008 when he started to have major doubts over the move.
Danny Guthrie reflects on Newcastle United transfer
"Newcastle come in [with a bid],” Guthrie told Inside Football. “I was like ‘yeah [Liverpool] won’t agree’ then they agreed. Then it was agreeing personal terms and I was like ‘yeah we won’t agree’, then we agreed so it just snowballed really quickly.
“I was told I’ve got to come up to Newcastle and I’m driving up the A1, a long-long road up to Newcastle and I just felt my stomach drop.
“I was like, 'No, I can't'. I was at my dream club. I was at the best place in the world as far as I was concerned in terms of the team and I was so proud to be a Liverpool player. It just hit me.
"I rang my agent and I said, 'Look, I don't want to do this.' I'm halfway up and he said, 'No, just have a look around the training ground and meet the manager'. I said, 'I really don't want to. I want to stay at Liverpool'. He said, 'Hold on. I'll call you back in a minute'.
Steven Gerrard helps Newcastle United pull off transfer swoop
Guthrie added: "The phone started ringing and it wasn't [my agent’s] number. It was Stevie G and he said, 'What's going on?' I went, 'I'm driving up to Newcastle. They have accepted a bid'. He said, 'That's amazing'. I was like, 'I don't know.'
"He said, 'You're mad. That is a proper football club up there. Go up there, establish yourself as your own man, your own player.
“Go and be the man in someone else's team. Build that confidence. Establish yourself in the Premier League. You never know what the future holds, but don't be somebody who fizzles out at a big club.' That was it. As soon as he put the phone down, I went, 'Yeah, you're right' and I signed.
“Maybe if I didn’t take that call from Stevie and stayed at Liverpool, I’d have fizzled out and ended up in League One or League Two - I don’t play in the Premier League again.”
Reflecting on his time at Newcastle, Guthrie said: “It was a great decision [to join Newcastle]. Newcastle are a brilliant club. I had some fantastic times there."
Guthrie ended up enjoying the best years of his career at Newcastle, scoring nine goals in 104 appearances for the club. The now 37-year-old played a key role in Newcastle’s 2009-10 Championship title win and also contributed to the fifth-place finish in the Premier League during the 2011-12 season before being released.
Guthrie joined newly-promoted Reading on the back of his Newcastle exit but was unable to help keep the Royals in the Premier League. Spells in the Championship with Reading, Fulham and Blackburn Rovers followed before a brief spell in Indonesia with Mitra Kukar.
Guthrie returned to England in 2019 to spend two seasons at Walsall in League Two before ending his career in Iceland with second-division side Fram in 2021. He filed for bankruptcy the following year having racked up £120,000 in gambling debts.
Guthrie’s two former clubs face each other in the Carabao Cup final at Wembley Stadium this Sunday (4:30pm kick-off).