Javier Mascherano lifts the lid on his painful Liverpool exit and Barcelona move

Javier Mascherano has lifted the lid on his exit from Liverpool and admitted he had to take matters very much into his own hands.

After arriving at Anfield from West Ham in  2007, the Argentine spent three years on Merseyside and developed into one of the world's best defensive midfielders under Rafa Benitez while earning cult status at the club.

But things soon soured and the player quickly found that promises had not been kept when it came to his future, and soon Mascherano had to take matters into his own hands.

Speaking this week with FourFourTwo, Mascherano recounted what happens in the weeks leading to his exit and how the club he loved soon evoked his angry side.

'There was an agreement between us that if Liverpool received a decent offer for me, I'd be permitted to leave,' he said.

'We'd spoken about extending my contract, but it seemed like the directors didn't care about me. In the pre-season after Rafa left, Roy Hodgson arrived.

'We had a meeting with the managing director, Christian Purslow, who told me I could go if a good offer came in. Then there was an offer on the table, but Liverpool were looking the other way.

'I was quite angry that they weren't keeping their word. Refusing to play at [Manchester] City was the way I found to show my annoyance.

'I'd told the club I wanted to leave for family reasons, so I was very upset to have to act the way I did,' Mascherano added.

'There was no other option – otherwise, Liverpool wouldn't keep their promise.'

The actions worked and Mascherano soon got a high profile move to Barcelona, where he quickly slotted into the system at the Nou Camp and went on to become a club great.

After sealing his dream switch, he helped the Catalan club to win five La Liga titles and two Champions Leagues.