Daniele Paponi is an Italian footballer who came up through the ranks of Parma’s youth system before making his way into their first team in 2005.
The 31-year-old has been plying his trade with Serie C side Piacenza since the start of this season. He appeared as a guest on ‘Casa Di Marzio’, a segment on journalist Gianluca Di Marzio’s website.
During the course of discussion, the forward revealed he had an opportunity to join Liverpool more than a decade ago. Paponi, however, rejected the chance to join the Reds, which he now clearly regrets.
“A regret? At 18 I could have gone to Liverpool, but I decided to stay in Parma,” he said.
Rafael Benítez was in charge of the Merseyside club’s first team when Liverpool made an approach for Paponi.
Paponi left Parma for Bologna in 2010. Having struggled to create an impact there, he was allowed to go out on loan on two occasions before leaving Bologna for fourth division Italian side Latina in 2015.
The manner in which Paponi’s career progressed after rejecting Liverpool, will only serve to make his regret even worse.
