Liverpool needed a new goalkeeper in 1992 and manager Graeme Souness was willing to break a transfer record to get his man.
On this day that 30 years ago, Liverpool completed the signing of David James from Watford. James was an England Under-21 international and tipped to be one of the brightest talents in the country.
Souness wanted him, but needed to fend off plenty of interest to get him. Chelsea were interested, as were club legend and former manager Kenny Dalglish at Blackburn Rovers.
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In the end, Liverpool got the deal over the line for £1million. There was talk of a £1.5m fee at the time, which would have broken the record for the most expensive goalkeeper in British history.
However, that record stood thanks to the £1.3m Arsenal paid Queens Park Rangers to sign David Seaman in 1990. Regardless, it was a tremendous show of faith by Liverpool and Souness in a relatively inexperienced goalkeeper.
However, his first season at Anfield did not go fully according to plan. While did did start the campaign as first choice, a difficult game against Chesterfield in the League Cup cost him his place in the side.
A third round tie that ended in a 4-4 draw, with James at fault for some of the goals. This led to Souness taking James out of the team for nearly four months, starting just one league match from that match in September 1992 to January 1993.
That game against Chesterfield proved the turning point for James, both on a professional note and from a personal point of view. Here, he realised the difference between playing at Watford and Liverpool.
“It was after we drew 4-4 with Chesterfield in the Coca-Cola Cup that I knew I had reached the lowest of the low,” James told Shoot magazine in 1993.
“It was then that I knew I had to sort myself out. It had gone too far and that game just killed me off completely.
“The problem was that at Watford I hardly ever went out and didn’t drink at all. Then I came to Liverpool and found it a different world.
“I hold my hands up and admit I got sucked into that different world. I began drinking, not a lot, but the fact that I was even doing that when I didn’t do it at Watford showed how I’d changed. It was wrong.
“After the Chesterfield game I decided to stop doing all that. I wasn’t doing the right things in football and going out was compensating for it.
“I don’t go out much now and it’s made me a better person for it. It sent me down the wrong track.
“Other people can go out night after night and still play like a legend, but I’m not one of them.
“After that, I was dropped and I was low for two or three months. It was a bad patch for me. I went into a bit of a depression again.
“I didn't know what to think at that time. I was low, chucked in the side and then out again. I missed a couple of days training by accident and Graeme Souness turned round to me and told me to sort myself out.”
Following a debut season that saw him make several high profile errors, James still managed to make 31 appearances. A steady return for a 22-year-old in his first season at one of the biggest clubs in the world.
But after just a single year at Anfield, there were rumours that he would be on the move. In the same interview, James did not think too kindly about the idea of leaving Liverpool after just one season.
“If they sold me tomorrow I’d be gutted, because I never proved that I could do it. I’d leave knowing I hadn’t done it and that bites,” said James.
“I know I will do it whenever my chance is given to me. I would not be happy if they sold me.
“The worst thing about this season is that I’ve tried every which way to be mentally right but I’ve just never had the chance.
“I used to be called a confident person but I don’t know whether I still am. I maintain now, I did not come here to be a reserve team keeper.
“The worst thing is that people look at me and think I’m rubbish.
“They call me a flop but I haven’t had a fair crack of the whip. If I was here for three years in the first team and did the same things, then they could call me a flop, but not after one season.
“My confidence has been swinging round and round. When the team is named and I’m not playing, my confidence dips again.
“Being on the bench is not making me a better keeper and I don’t like it.”
James remained at Liverpool in the summer of 1993, but the new campaign didn’t bring any fresh hope. He was second fiddle to Bruce Grobbelaar, and there were few signs of him breaking into the team.
Then came a trip to Elland Road. Liverpool lost 2-0 to Leeds United thanks to goals from David Wetherall and future Red Gary McAllister. Grobbelaar started the game, but was replaced in the closing stages by James - it ended up being the final appearance for the legendary keeper, who left for Southampton in the summer of 1994.
From that point on, James was the first choice goalkeeper at Anfield. He would go on to make 277 appearances for the club, before being sold to Aston Villa for £1.7m in 1999.
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