Liverpool wanted £44m Champions League star instead of Diogo Jota

Liverpool may not have ended up with Diogo Jota this summer.

The club had their eye on a £44m Champions League star, reported El Pais, and could have signed him had things gone differently.

As it stands, there’ll be a lot of Reds who are happy that Liverpool bought Diogo Jota from Wolves. The Portuguese international has integrated with the squad seamlessly and has three scored goals already – including consecutive strikes.

Jota seems to be able to operate across a variety of positions and is good at getting himself in a position to shoot. The 23-year-old’s header to win the game against Sheffield United was a perfect example of his ability to find dangerous areas in the box.

He’s also a favourite of coach Pep Lijnders, who admires the way Jota is a pressing animal and is so good he’s actually difficult to coach.

While Liverpool were beating Danish side Midtjylland on Tuesday night, a different battle was happening across the Channel in Germany.

Borussia Monchengladbach were on the verge of an unexpected win against Real Madrid thanks to a double from Marcus Thuram – who has been linked with a move to Anfield before.

Late goals from Karim Benzema and Casimero may have ruined Die Fohlen’s hopes of a surprise victory, but it helped put the spotlight on their 23-year-old star.

Liverpool wanted to sign Marcus Thuram this summer, said the report, and must have been impressed by the French U21 international, who has scored 17 goals and assisted 13 in 47 games for Gladbach.

It doesn’t seem like we’re going to be losing any sleep over the decision. Jota has hit the ground running and looks to be an excellent addition to the squad.

Alongside Takumi Minamino and Xherdan Shaqiri, Klopp has real strength in depth and will be able to change his combinations and avoid the stale predictability that has plagued Manchester City.

Thuram could yet develop into a fine player and Liverpool may have an eye on him in the future, but right now things have worked out pretty well.