Javier Mascherano reveals ‘toxic’ nature of Liverpool exit

Javier Mascherano has revealed that he does not want to make the same mistakes he made at Liverpool as he prepares to quit Barcelona.

The midfielder turned defender is sure he will be leaving the Nou Camp in the new year, having quit Anfield for the Catalan giants in 2010.

The 33-year-old enjoyed a largely successful time on Merseyside but has revealed that his relationship with Reds boss Roy Hodgson deteriorated before his exit.

“I think that my stage here is ending,” he told ESPN. “It makes sense that after such a long time there’s not much more I can do in this club. I’m not saying it with a heavy heart. I’ve had the best years of my career in this club. I’ll never forget it.

“I’m one of those people who thinks that you have to know when is the right time to end a stage. I would like to end mine at the right time, but it doesn’t really depend on me.

“I am predisposed to end it on time because when I left Liverpool it wasn’t good for me, and I didn’t like it. I didn’t like having the feeling that I couldn’t go back to Liverpool and there was still something toxic there. And I don’t want the same thing to happen to me at Barcelona.”

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As for his Liverpool exit seven years ago, he added: “It was a stormy summer for me. Rafa Benitez had left Liverpool and there was the possibility of going to Inter with him. We were negotiating but things did not go the way we wanted. I already had the idea of leaving Liverpool.

“He was the manager who had bet on me when I did not know what to do at West Ham. When he left, I believed that it would not be the same and I needed to take a step forward.

“Negotiations with Inter did not progress and 15 days before the end of the transfer window Barcelona contacted me. I fought for that. It was not the best way to leave.

“I did not like it but it was my chance. A club like this is not going to come looking for you two years in a row. If you say no, they look for someone else. That’s the reality. I fought for that and here I am.”