Craig Bellamy admits he should have listened to Manchester United legend and snubbed Liverpool FC

Former Manchester City attacker Craig Bellamy has admitted his move to Liverpool back in 2006 was a mistake, conceding that he should have listened to former Manchester United striker Mark Hughes' advice.

On the books of Blackburn Rovers at the time, Bellamy swapped Ewood Park for Anfield, signing a four-year contract. He earned the high-profile move to Merseyside after scoring 17 goals and registering four assists in 32 games for Rovers in the 2005/06 campaign.

Despite scoring a respectable nine goals and chalking up six assists in his debut season at Liverpool, he sealed a move to West Ham United in July 2007. The move to London failed to work out and he ended up returning to Anfield in August 2011, following a spell at City and a loan stint with Cardiff City.

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But as for his first move to Anfield 17 years ago, Hughes, who was Blackburn manager at the time, advised him not to join the Merseysiders, saying their style of play would not suit his own characteristics. Bellamy has now conceded his former boss, who was reunited with him at City, was right.

"[I had a] Liverpool poster on my bedroom wall every single year," Bellamy told former United captain Gary Neville on The Overlap. "That poster you got from Toys R Us? Yes, that was there.

"To get the privilege of being able to play for them [Liverpool] was like 'I have to do this', even though I was very happy at Blackburn at the time.

"I spoke to Mark Hughes who was actually not that happy for me – he said something that was very interesting; 'I know who you are, I know how Liverpool play and I know this is not a good move for you'.