Former Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers may just some stick for his time at Anfield, but it turns out that he can’t be to blame for Alberto Moreno.
According to Neil Jones from Goal.com, Rodgers actually wanted to sign three other left-backs before he had Moreno forced upon him by the Reds hierarchy.
Jones writes that Liverpool were encouraged to pursue deals for Ryan Bertrand, then playing for Chelsea, and Ben Davies of Swansea City.
Guilherme Siqueira was also wanted – but the powers that be decided that Moreno had more potential for improvement and thus a deal was struck.
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It’s tough to say how deals for Bertrand, Davies or Siqueira would have worked out but at least two out of those three would have been better than Moreno.
Bertrand ended up moving to Southampton and generally impressed, while Davies was bought by Tottenham Hotspur and is one of the league’s better left-backs. The Welshman would definitely have fitted in well with Liverpool and should be marked down as a missed opportunity.
Siqueira, who is currently 32-years-old, was the shortest term option of the two. Rodgers wouldn’t have been able to foresee signing Andy Robertson or the Scot’s progression, but it would have probably worked out pretty well.
This transfer story is another in an increasingly long line that show how weird and wonderful things were under the Northern Irish gaffer.
Simon Hughes of the Independent also recounted a tale in which Rodgers had to be bribed in order to sign Roberto Firmino. The man the gaffer was bribed with? Christian Benteke. We all know how that one turned out.
In fairness, Moreno wasn’t a Brendan buy. That falls to those above him who wanted the Spaniard. And now that experiment is about to draw to a natural conclusion, and we can all reflect on what may have been.