Some Liverpool fans may not have paid a lot of attention at the time, but a couple of years ago, the Reds started being linked to Brazilian wonderkid Rodrygo.
The first stories about the interest date back to 2017, and things got hotter in the summer of 2018. That’s when he wrote an titled ‘Explanation of just how exciting Rodrygo is, and how Liverpool efforts go way back’.
But the Anfield side ended up not getting him, since it was Real Madrid who won the race, paying Santos €45m to take him to Spain last summer.
The 18-year-old is now having a decent start for the Galacticos, with two goals in five appearances so far. But it turns out that the Liverpool stories are back, with his former manager saying the Reds could’ve signed him.
Elano, once of Manchester City, had been an interim manager at Santos and gave Rodrygo his debut in 2017. He’s spoken to ESPN Brasil about the player this week, and talked a little about Liverpool’s efforts to sign him.
“There was a period when there was very strong negotiation from Liverpool for him to leave when he was still at the academy. The amount was very low, but they wanted to go,” Elano told ESPN Brasil.
“The offer from Real later was around €30m more (laughs). I had a talk with the staff and said the boy was worth the bet and we should raise him because I would like to work with him. Thank God everything worked out for Rodrygo’s merit.”
