Featured Image Credit: Getty
Topics: Liverpool, Alisson Becker, Chelsea, Football
Marcus Chan
Alisson Becker’s move to Liverpool only happened after one transfer fell through right at the death.
Back in 2018, Liverpool were on the lookout for a new goalkeeper after Loris Karius made two costly mistakes in the Champions League final against Real Madrid.
Eventually, the Reds brought in Brazilian Alisson from Italian Serie A side AS Roma for a reported fee of £66.9 million.
Since then, Alisson has played a major role in Jurgen Klopp’s successful time in charge of the Anfield time.
However, it has been revealed that things could have been very different if Liverpool had sealed the deal to sign French midfielder Nabil Fekir.
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It was reported back in 2018 that Liverpool had agreed a deal worth £52.8 million with Lyon but the transfer ultimately fell through.
Speaking recently on The Football Historian Podcast, former Liverpool goalkeeper coach John Achterberg spoke about how Fekir’s deal impacted Alisson’s transfer.
He said: “I would’ve have had no problem to [have] started with Danny Ward as a No. 1, but I think that was never the case really.
“It was a little bit like, the boss had said they both [Ward and Karius] get a fair chance. I think both had their issues in pre-season and that’s why it was decided that we needed a new goalie.”
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Achterberg added: “But it was all the pieces falling together because if you would have signed [Nabil] Fekir, then there was no money to sign Ali. So, we were lucky that the deal fell through.
“And then I said, ‘Okay boss, we have to be quick now’ because Chelsea for sure wanted to sign Ali too. And they will sell Courtois to Madrid so we have to do it before, and that’s what happened.”
After failing to move to Liverpool, Fekir eventually left Lyon in 2019 for Spanish La Liga side Real Betis in a deal worth £26.7 million.
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The 31-year-old Frenchman is now the captain of Betis and is likely to face Liverpool on Friday night as the Reds kick off their pre-season tour of the United States.