Barcelona new boy Javier Mascherano has accused former club Liverpool of lying about his motivations for leaving Anfield this summer.
The Argentina captain sealed a £20million move to the Nou Camp last week after being denied a transfer to the Catalan giants in the summer of 2009. Mascherano's final weeks at Liverpool turned sour amid reports that he had refused to play in the 3-0 defeat at Manchester City to force a route out of England for family reasons.
But the 26-year-old West Ham flop has blamed the Reds for his desire to leave, claiming the Premier League side denied him his switch to Barcelona after promising 12 months earlier that he could leave if an acceptable bid was received.
The Guardian quotes Mascherano as saying about Liverpool: "When they started to involve my family and to say things that didn't make sense, I obviously suffered.
"They'd promised me something for a whole year and they never fulfilled their promise.
"And that didn't have anything to do with my family or anything else. When you read or hear lies, you obviously get angry."
Mascherano was plucked from West Ham's reserve team by ex-Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez, who had wanted to take the midfielder to current club Inter Milan.
And the South American has praise for his one-time boss, adding: "Rafa taught me tactics.
"He's one of the coaches who have taught me the most in my career and I'm very grateful to him.
"He was fundamental. He gave me the chance to join Liverpool. He had confidence in me at a time when, perhaps, nobody would have dreamed of giving me an opportunity. I'll be grateful to him all my life."
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