EXCLUSIVE: Daniel Sjolund reveals all about his move to Liverpool, his time at Anfield, and the injury that derailed his Reds career when on the verge of a first team debut
Daniel Sjolund has a number of Liverpool legends to thank for playing inadvertent roles in his dream move to Anfield.
The Finland international joined the Reds in a £1m deal from West Ham United in November 2000, in a move which saw Rigobert Song move the other way to Upton Park. Just 17 at the time, he had only been at West Ham less than a year, having impressed scouts with his impressive displays at international youth level.
A pacey and prolific striker, he had already had to leave his home on the Aland Islands for the sake of his football career. He moved to Stockholm to sign for IF Brommapojkarna as a 16-year-old, before the Hammers snapped him up after a matter of months. It was a lot of upheaval in a short space of time for any player, never mind a young teenager. And a chain reaction littered with Liverpool legends in the autumn of 2000 ultimately led to his biggest move yet.
This story starts with England opening their 2002 World Cup qualifying campaign at home to Germany in the last ever game at the Old Wembley on October 7. A 14th-minute free-kick from Reds midfielder Didi Hamann ultimately consigns the Three Lions to a 1-0 defeat.
Straight after the loss, Liverpool legend Kevin Keegan infamously resigns as England manager from inside the Wembley dressing room toilets. With the Three Lions in action again four days later away at Finland, they need a caretaker boss and fast.
Under-21s manager Howard Wilkinson is deemed the man for the job, handed a temporary promotion. Yet the young Lions are in action in Finland themselves on October 10 – the day before the senior side’s own game. So Liverpool legend – and then first-team coach under Gerard Houllier – Sammy Lee takes charge for the night.
England Under-21s would be held to a 2-2 draw in Finland, with David Dunn and Alan Smith, who was later sent off, on the scoresheet. It was Sjolund who was the star that night, though, opening the scoring before netting a late equaliser to claim an unlikely draw.
Lee was suitably impressed, with Sjolund supposedly on Liverpool’s radar before he even joined West Ham. Reporting back to Houllier, the Reds signed the young Finn themselves less than two months later.
The game against England Under-21s, I scored twice and heard at the time and afterwards that that was maybe the main game that made Liverpool want to get me,” Sjolund admits in an exclusive interview with the ECHO. “But I also heard when West Ham came with the offer at the beginning, Liverpool was always watching me back then.
Usually I don’t hear any names of who’s involved in transfers, the main guy who wants you to join, but I heard Sammy Lee was one of the coaches for England Under-21s back then. I think it was pretty quick after that game that they moved for me, and for me it was also pretty easy to decide to go to Liverpool.
“Looking back at it now, it was a really fun and good experience (at West Ham). But I probably moved a little bit too soon, I think. It was a big step for me but at the time, if you get the chance to play in a team like West Ham, or later on Liverpool as well, it’s hard to turn it down. So I dropped out of school, left and put it all in for football.
“I remember when Liverpool put the offer in, I had a meeting with Harry (Redknapp). For him, it was more up to me. ‘If you want to go, you go. If you want to stay, you can stay’. But it was up to me to decide if I wanted to go or not.
The main part was I was going to be part of the first-team squad at Liverpool. I think also, at West Ham we had a good team. Good opportunity to make it as a footballer and be part of the first team later on.
Maybe easier than at Liverpool, but of course West Ham had a good first team as well. But when the offer came, it’s really hard to turn down.
“I’d been supporting Liverpool since a young age, so to have that opportunity was really hard to say no to. It was a dream come true. So I took the chance and I left West Ham after roughly a year I think.”
A boyhood Liverpool fan, Sjolund had posters of Michael Owen and Co on his bedroom walls. Now, overnight, the teenager was training alongside his heroes. As a £1m signing, he admits he felt the pressure and was initially starstruck at Anfield.
“Yes and no,” he said about the pressure that accompanied his transfer. “I think it was quite natural in a way, but also coming to Liverpool and training with the first team and seeing my idols in training every day, I was very starstruck at the beginning at least.
After a while, it becomes more natural. You are part of the team, but I was still very young. Maybe I would never get the chance again if I waited, but then again, maybe if I was three or four years older, it would be much easier I think to become a real part of the team and maybe easier to get a chance to play a little bit.
“I’m more a young player who comes in and trains with the first team but plays for the Under-19s and the reserves team at Liverpool. It was a good set-up for me to make it.
“Of course it was different. If you compare to the youth team at West Ham, we trained a lot, that’s the way it worked. You work really hard as a young player, then you make it and come into the first team.
Then it becomes more that the games are the focus point. I actually thought the training was quite easy if you compare it. It was more important not to get injured, focus on the game and just prepare well.
