The mother and father of Anderlecht youngster Jérémy Doku have revealed he was once close to signing for Liverpool.
With a first-team squad packed full of talent, the Reds have spent the last few years instead building up their youth ranks and planning for the future.
This was seen in the last summer transfer window in particular, when Liverpool brought in Sepp van den Berg from PEC Zwolle and is something they are likely to continue doing moving forward.
The lure of Anfield is one few are likely to resist, particularly given Liverpool’s current level of success on the pitch, but it seems one that got away was Doku.
The 17-year-old is currently starring in the Jupiler Pro League with Anderlecht, making 24 appearances and scoring six goals in all competitions for the club this season.
“At the age of sixteen Jérémy could sign a pro contract with Anderlecht, but even then Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea, Man City, Ajax and PSV were interested,” they told Het Niewsblad.
“We then visited clubs like Liverpool and Ajax, but Stellar Group left us the choice.
“My (David, his father) preference was Liverpool. How we were received there, damn.
“Trainer Klopp explained how he saw a potential successor to Sadio Mané in Jérémy. Steven Gerrard showed us videos with tactical analysis.
“At the training complex Mignolet, Mané and Wijnaldum came to talk to us. Yet Jérémy was distracted by the talk. Liverpool panicked.
“We talked about Chelsea and they thought he was going to sign there while we were just chatting about our youngest daughter. She’s called Chelsea.
“Van Holsbeeck (former Andelecht boss) was convinced that he would lose Jérémy almost for free to Liverpool and wanted to make the most of it.
“But Anderlecht did everything to keep our son. They handled it cleverly with that video of Romelu Lukaku. If Jérémy hesitated for a moment to leave, it took away the last doubt.”
