The Finnish forward was brought to the Reds by Gerard Houllier in January 2001 and would go on to make 43 appearances and score nine goals for the club he had supported since childhood.
In doing so, he sported one of the lesser-spotted jersey numbers – the first, and one of only four men, to have used it in the Premier League era for LFC.
“I was five years old when I started following Liverpool and my first idol was Kevin Keegan,” Litmanen recently told FourFourTwo of his arrival and shirt choice at Anfield.
“When he moved to Hamburg, I couldn’t watch him as often, but I started to admire his replacement, Kenny Dalglish – he was clinical in front of goal, technically gifted and moved so intelligently.
“I grew up watching Liverpool more than any other team, so when I joined the club in 2001, it was special. When they asked what number I wanted, they assumed I’d say 10, but I said, ‘What about seven?’ It was already taken by Vladimir Smicer. ‘What about 17?’ Steven Gerrard had it. ‘How about 27?’ Gregory Vignal.
“Then I asked for 37 – actually, I first asked for 77, because I wanted the seven of Keegan and the seven of Dalglish, but they told me that was too high and would be the biggest number in the league.
“So, 37 was perfect. Three times seven – Keegan, Dalglish and me.”
