Ex-Liverpool star who threw embarrassing strop on pitch is set to make Anfield return

An ex-Liverpool star will return to Anfield this weekend, with his last appearance at the stadium resulting in fury

Djibril Cisse is set to return to Anfield this weekend, a year since throwing an unexpected strop at the famed Liverpool ground.

The former Reds striker remains a popular figure on Merseyside, having played for the club from 2004 to 2006, scoring 26 goals in 82 games. Cisse, 44, won the Champions League, FA Cup and Super Cup during his two-year stint in England. His son, Prince Cisse, now represents the club's U18 squad.

The 41-cap ex-France international hasn't been a Liverpool player for 19 years. However, he's since played charity matches at Anfield, with his next trip to the stadium set for Saturday, when Liverpool's Legends take on Borussia Dortmund.

His return to the ground comes just over a year since his last appearance at Anfield when Liverpool Legends faced Chelsea. The game ended 2-0 in the Reds' favour, but Cisse was left fuming after being substituted off by Kenny Dalglish.

Club icon John Aldridge, who was Dalglish's assistant during the game, was stunned by Cisse's reaction. He said at the time: "For the first time ever, we had a dispute, Djibril wasn't happy. We all thought he'd pulled up".

Cisse spent only two years at Liverpool, but his heroics in the Champions League final and his goal in the Reds' 2006 FA Cup final victory over West Ham secured him cult hero status.

His move to Anfield came off the back of a 26-goal season for Auxerre in Ligue 1 and it wasn't only the Premier League giants who were interested in his services.

The Frenchman previously revealed that he almost signed for Barcelona and Real Madrid, but turned down a move to Spain to join Liverpool because of his prior agreement to become a Red.

"I nearly signed for Barcelona and Real Madrid in the summer of 2004," Cisse told Poker Strategy. "However, I turned those offers down in favour of a move to Liverpool. That season, I scored 26 goals at Auxerre, so there were a lot of clubs interested in signing me that summer, but I wanted the move to Anfield.

FOLLOW OUR LIVERPOOL FB PAGE! Latest Reds news and more on our dedicated Facebook page

"I had given my word to Liverpool, and I didn’t want to go back on that agreement. Of course, it would have been great to line up at the Camp Nou or the Bernabeu alongside the talent there was there at the time, but I had already had some good conversations with the club, and I was happy to sign for Liverpool.

"Liverpool is a great club, and it was one of the best nights of my career to win the Champions League in the way we did in Istanbul the following year, so I’m very happy with the choice I made."

Last year, Cisse added that a former Liverpool boss played a starring role in convincing him to move to England. He said: "I chose Liverpool because of, first, Gerard Houllier. He made it feel like it was a safe place to go but also a safe place with a massive history.

"Michael Owen, Robbie Fowler and Ian Rush... they were strikers I watched when I was a kid, so it was an honour and a pleasure for me to walk in their footsteps. And I'm a man of my word. I gave my word to Liverpool a year before I actually signed for the club; in my last season with Auxerre, I had already told Liverpool I would join them."