Liverpool senior players, Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher were not receptive towards new signings during the 2002/03 season according to former midfielder, Salif Diao.
Diao joined the Merseyside club in 2002 from Sedan for £4,700,000, but he endured a frosty relationship with the iconic figures at the club.
Liverpool acquired five new players in the summer transfer window, including fellow Senegalese star forward El Hadji Diouf.
Diao, who signed a five year deal with the Reds only managed 37 appearances in his first three seasons before he was loaned to three other premiership teams.
In an interview with BBC the 40-year-old said “When we came in we never really felt welcomed by some of the players that were already there; the leaders of the club at the time.
“If you look at Chelsea, when Didier Drogba joined, in his first week he was invited to Frank Lampard’s house for dinner, same as John Terry.
“These are true leaders, if players come to Chelsea; they made sure in the first week they look after them, invite them to their houses and just show them they’re really welcomed.
“But if I compare that to what happened in Liverpool, when I joined, It’s two different worlds.”
Salif Diao was a member of the golden generation of Senegalese football that reach the quarter final of the FIFA World Cup in 2002.
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