Flamboyant and tough-tackling defender, Taribo West has revealed he was sent packing from Italian giants, AC Milan by no other force than The Mafia. He also said Liverpool made a bid for him only for him to end up at Derby County.
West in a chat with ScoreNigeria said the Mafia and fans would not have none of it that an African defender would play ahead of their gods; including veteran Franco Baresi, who was then in the swan song of his career.
“The Mafia would do anything in their powers to make sure I was done away with at Milan,” West pointed out.
“They cooked a vicious story in the press that I was injured in the desperate bid to send me out of Milan.
“The doctors were bribed to say I was injured, but it was a lie. They did that because they felt it was unthinkable for an African player to take the place of those three aging defenders.
“Liverpool came with an offer, but at the end of the day, I had to settle for Derby County.”