The game changing transfer Liverpool nearly pulled off
Liverpool nearly pulled off a game changing transfer for Borussia Dortmund star Jadon Sancho.
Jurgen Klopp admitted that the Reds wanted to sign Sancho, then of Manchester City, before he went to Germany and set the template for youth development.
But, said the Daily Mail, City refused to do business with Liverpool because they consider the Anfield club to be a direct rival.
Klopp has history of signing talented youngsters from other top six sides and has overseen moves for Chelsea duo Dominic Solanke and Isaac Christie-Davies. But Solanke has since left the Reds for Bournemouth in a £17 million deal, while Christie-Davies has had to settle for U23 appearances.
More from Rush The Kop
- Set to return, Virgil Van Dijk facing heavy criticism back home
- Liverpool making late comebacks all the rage once again
- Wolves tilt gives Klopp opportunity to tinker with lineup following international duty
- Players to watch in the matchup with Wolves
- Predicting Liverpool’s Next Five Premier League Fixtures
Liverpool have also been credited with interest in Callum Hudson-Odoi, who continues to be frozen out of Maurizio Sarri’s first team plans. Bayern Munich wanted Hudson-Odoi for some time, and you’d imagine their pursuit of him would continue in the summer transfer window.
But the fact is, competing Premier League sides don’t like selling to one another. Each team is so concerned about improving the other that they are reluctant to do business – implied Klopp.
As a result, foreign sides can swoop for the best English talent without competition from domestic sides. It’s what allowed Dortmund to pick up Sancho without much fuss, Bayern to have a near-monopoly on Hudson-Odoi interest and Schalke to snag 18-year-old Liverpool born Rabbi Matondo from City.
Matondo hadn’t played a single minute of senior football for City, yet he already has three appearances for Schalke since moving there in January. Two of those appearances have been starts, with one coming in the Bundesliga.
Next. Four reasons why Liverpool should avoid Abdülkadir Ömür like the plague. dark
He’s the fourth English youngster to make an appearance in the German top flight this season after Sancho and Reiss Nelson were joined by Matondo and Reece Oxford in January. Oxford is back in the Bundesliga with Augsburg, a year after joining Borussia Mönchengladbach on loan from West Ham.