Jurgen Klopp has admitted that Liverpool only had the funds to sign Alisson Becker because a move for Nabil Fekir collapsed at the last minute.
The Brazilian goalkeeper arrived from Roma in the summer of 2018, transforming our backline and becoming a key part of the team that would go on to win every major trophy under Klopp.
However, speaking in the club’s new documentary ‘Alisson: My Story’, the former manager revealed that the deal might never have happened if Lyon midfielder Fekir had joined us instead.
“It was my absolute dream,” the German said, reflecting on Alisson’s arrival.
“When you dream or think about the team, you set it up from the back. And that was the moment we said ‘OK, we have to try it’.
“The interesting part is that we were close to signing Fekir. And if we sign Fekir, we don’t have the money for Ali.
“It was obviously a pretty important decision for the future of LFC!”
Behind-the-scenes insight into Liverpool’s Alisson transfer
Former goalkeeping coach John Achterberg also shared fresh details on how the decision came about.
Speaking on ‘The Football Historian Podcast Extra-time’ on Patreon, the Dutchman explained: “We needed a new goalie but it was also all pieces falling together because if we would have signed Fekir then there was no money to sign Ali.
“So we were lucky that that deal fell through and then I said, ‘okay boss, we have to be quick now because Chelsea for sure want to sign Ali too.’”
It’s a remarkable what-if moment that highlights just how pivotal that summer was for us.
Alisson’s arrival led to an instant upturn in our defensive solidity, and his performances in the 2018/19 Champions League campaign proved decisive — including that iconic one-on-one save against Napoli.
Had we moved forward with the Fekir deal, the midfielder might have added something in attack, but it’s hard to argue with how things turned out.
The Frenchman failing his medical was crucial — a twist of fate that helped us go on to lift the Champions League, Premier League, and more.
Alisson now enters his eighth season at Anfield, firmly etched into the history of this club and still labelled as the best in the world at his job.
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