Liverpool may feel that they have made a major transfer blunder after seeing Jeremy Doku hit the ground running in the Premier League with Manchester City. The Reds reportedly had ‘explicit permission’ to strike a deal for the forward previously but never took action after laying the foundations for a transfer to take place.
Jurgen Klopp’s side have made a strong start to the season, with their good form prompting conversations about whether Liverpool could push for the Premier League title following their significant spending spree.
The Reds reshaped their midfield ranks with the arrivals of Alexis Mac Allister, Ryan Gravenberch, Wataru Endo and Dominik Szoboszlai. However, despite the quartet holding down the fort at Anfield, Liverpool may be regretting business that they did not conduct previously.
According to Het Laatste Nieuws, the Reds had the opportunity to sign exciting winger Doku whilst he was playing for Anderlecht. The forward came through the academy with the Belgian side before breaking into their first team as a teenager, and he was firmly on Liverpool’s radar at that time.
After being snapped up by agency Stellar Group, interest soared in Doku, with Arsenal, Chelsea, City and Ajax among those to register an interest in the hope of ‘seducing’ the then-teenager to leave Anderlecht.
Liverpool were the most successful in talks with Belgian outfit and they are said to have struck an agreement with the club in January 2018 which would see Lazar Markovic head in the other direction on loan. In that deal, it ‘explicitly’ mentioned that Doku would be involved in the transfer and gave the Reds permission to speak with the former Rennes star.
The forward then travelled to Merseyside for talks and the higher powers at Anfield pulled out all the stops to try and convince him to put pen to paper with the club, offering a property, a lucrative contract and extensive insight into how the club are plotting for his future. However, Doku was unconvinced and opted to pen a contract extension with Anderlecht instead, feeling that he would rather develop further before heading to the Premier League.
The decision was a major blow to Liverpool’s plans, and their desperation to sign the Belgium winger is now being justified on a weekly basis. Doku is blossoming with City and has already asserted himself as one of the most exciting forwards in Europe with his electric pace and mazy dribbles – and Liverpool will feel that they truly slipped up in not going even further above and beyond to secure his services.
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