It’s a switch story many followers will already concentrate on, however few could know precisely how far Liverpool went of their bid to signal Piotr Zielinski.
Zielinski emerged as one of many first main targets of Jurgen Klopp‘s reign because the Reds looked for a brand new midfielder in the summertime of 2016.
The participant himself confirmed contact with the membership and was later pictured sporting a Liverpool shirt on Polish TV, whereas bids of £9.5 million and £12 million have been reported.
These finally failed, with Udinese rejecting their advances for a participant who went on to affix Napoli that summer season in a deal price €16 million.
Having left Napoli after eight profitable seasons this summer season to signal for Inter Milan, Zielinski has detailed how shut he got here to becoming a member of Liverpool – together with in-person talks with Klopp after being flown over in a non-public jet.
“Jurgen Klopp invited me to his home. Liverpool despatched a non-public jet to select me up,” he advised Polish YouTube channel Foot Truck.
“Klopp advised me that for him I’m a combination between [Cesc] Fabregas and [Ilkay] Gundogan. I didn’t perceive something, however then my agent, who spoke German, advised me the whole lot.
“After we have been leaving I managed to take a photograph with Klopp who was on the door and stated goodbye.”
The previous Liverpool supervisor made a degree of talking personally with every participant earlier than sanctioning any signings, and that was the identical for Zielinski.
Nonetheless, there have been no points when it got here to these conversations, with the Poland worldwide as an alternative explaining that it was Udinese who blocked his transfer.
“They have been providing €18.5 million, however Udinese needed one thing extra,” he continued.
“Nonetheless, Liverpool couldn’t cross a sure restrict with me as a result of I wasn’t a high participant but.
“The opposite aspect of the coin is that I didn’t really feel like one both.”
Zielinski clearly understood Liverpool’s reluctance to half methods with a sizeable charge, although it’s shocking that he went on to affix a Serie A rival for lower than the Reds have been prepared to pay.
After transferring on from their makes an attempt to signal Zielinski, the membership ultimately landed a £25 million deal to convey Gini Wijnaldum in from Newcastle.
Wijnaldum had already proved himself within the Premier League and went on to ascertain himself as some of the necessary gamers for Klopp’s vastly profitable aspect.
It was a sliding doorways second for Liverpool and Zielinski, and although it labored for each, it’s fascinating to listen to how the Reds pulled out all of the stops for a “combine between Fabregas and Gundogan.”
