LIVERPOOL new boy Georginio Wijnaldum still cherishes the shirt he grabbed off former Kop hero Fernando Torres as the Anfield icons had a tear-up in Holland.
Back in August 2007 the former Newcastle midfielder was a 16-year-old was unused Feyenoord substitute as they drew 1-1 with the Premier League side in a pre-season friendly that turned nasty after the final whistle, allowing the souvenir chaser to pounce.
The two teams clashed at the end of a spiteful encounter after Pepe Reina had saved a late Luigi Bruin’s penalty, after a contentious foul was given against Alvaro Arbeloa.
As the melee erupted, with skipper Steven Gerrard appearing to swing a punch at a Feyenoord rival, Wijnaldum burst onto the pitch and secured the shirt of the once-iconic Merseyside no9 who fell from grace after moving to Chelsea.
The new signing told Liverpoolfc.com: “It was a game in Rotterdam in a tournament – the Port of Rotterdam Tournament.
“I was sitting on the bench for the whole game and after the game, there were some arguments between the players but I spotted Torres standing there.
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“I liked Torres because of the way he played and scored goals – he was a really good player – so I went over to him and asked if we could swap shirts.
“That’s the thing I remember most about that night. I still have the shirt because I was a big fan of his.
“Because the players were making trouble, I had the chance to swap my jersey with Torres and I was really happy about it.”
Despite making the dash to secure El Nino’s kit after the fiery clash almost a decade ago, the playmaker claims he wasn’t interested in football as a nipper.
The youngster preferred a leotard to football boots and only gave up gymnastics when his grandma warned him all the cartwheels and roly-polies were too dangerous for her darling boy.
He added: “When I was young, I didn’t know a lot about Liverpool but that was also because I was not really interested in football.
“I was interested in other things like gymnastics. I did backflips, but it was just for fun.
“I liked to watch gymnastics at the Olympics. It was the thing I liked when I was young, so I did not really care about football – that didn’t come until a later age.
“I preferred gymnastics, but one day my grandma said it was too dangerous and she didn’t want me to do it, so I stopped and turned to football.
“Then, the older I got the more I started to love the game. Now, I’ll love football for the rest of my life.”
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