Olympique Lyon attacker Xherdan Shaqiri admits he wanted to leave Liverpool over a year ago.

Shaqiri was sold by Liverpool to Lyon in August and has hit the ground running in Ligue 1.

The Swiss told 20min.ch: "A year ago I wanted to escape from the Reds and in addition to Lyon was also wanted by teams in Spain and Italy. But the club didn't want to let me go.

"Then last summer I talked to the coach (Jurgen Klopp) and it was all sorted out. He wrote me when the deal was done and told me I'm a good player and a good guy. We've always had a great relationship.

"We never had any problems, I just wanted to face a new challenge. It's normal in football and Klopp helped me with that.

"The next few years? I don't have a precise plan. I never thought I would play for Liverpool or with Bayern, now I want to continue playing at the highest level as long as my body will allow it."