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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
Kieran King

What happened to two Liverpool signings Jamie Carragher called "really poor" from day one

Three years ago, Jamie Carragher revealed the two Liverpool signings he thought were "really poor" when they first made the switch to Anfield.

Mohamed Sissoko was the first after he made the £5.6million move to Valencia in 2005. The former Mali midfielder struggled at the start of his Liverpool career but ended up becoming an important member of Rafael Benitez's side, making 87 appearances in during his three-year spell on Merseyside.

He told Sky Sports back in 2020: "More often than not at Liverpool the top players settled really quickly, but I can think of a couple. I think Momo Sissoko was one. He ended up being a really good player for us in midfield. A destructive type of player, not great technically.

Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher (Getty Images)

"But in his first few training sessions he looked really poor with the ball. People always wonder what it’s like when new signings come in, and pro footballers at the top clubs, or at any level, we’re all the same as when you’re with your mates at five a side."

Then Carragher mentioned Dietmar Hamman as the second following his £8m switch from Newcastle in 1996. Hamann ended up playing 280 matches for the Reds - before he made the move to Manchester City in 2006.

Carragher added: "I think Didi Hamann was one as well. It's not that the looked a poor player, but what he did at Liverpool... his first season it did take him a bit of time to show why we'd spent that money on him and what job he was going to do in the team."

Dietmar Hamann in action for Liverpool in 2005 (Getty Images)

But where are Sissoko and Hamman now?

Sissoko moved to Juventus from Liverpool in 2008 and became an important member of Claudio Ranieri's men as they fought towards the top end of Serie A. He spent four years at the Old Lady, featuring 100 times in the process, before he made the switch across Europe to Paris Saint-Germain.

This was at the start of PSG's golden era, where they began to dominate Ligue 1. During his time at PSG, Sissoko won the league title once in 2012/13, but spent just over a year in the French capital.

Spells at Fiorentina, Levante, Shanghai Shenhua, Pune City, Ternana Calcio, Mitra Kukar, Atletico San Luis, Kitchee and Sochaux followed before Sissoko retired in 2020. The 38-year-old is now the founder and CEO of Leading Sport management (LSM) and also takes part in speaker events in his native France.

Former Liverpool midfielder Mohamed Sissoko (Getty Images)

As for Hamann, he made 71 appearances for City in three years before Sheikh Mansour and the United Arab Emirates group brought the Blues. The German spent some time out of football, before returning to join League One side MK Dons during the 2010/11 campaign - playing 12 times.

However, Hamann left to join Leicester as part of Sven Goran-Eriksson's coaching staff. Although he lasted a matter of months at the Foxes, Hamann was on the move again to become Stockport's new manager in July 2011.

Hamman's record at Stockport was nothing short of shambolic, though, having won just three of his 20 matches in charge before being sacked by the Conference outfit. Since that job, Hamann has dipped into punditry and journalism, writing for various news outlets and working for the likes of Sky Sports.

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