(Video) Brendan Rodgers reveals how close Liverpool came to signing Tottenham prodigy Dele Alli

Dele Alli could have been lining up for us against Manchester United today had things gone to plan.

SEE MORE: Liverpool v Man United team news: Benteke & Allen remain on bench as Lucas comes in

Brendan Rodgers, speaking publicly for the first time since he was sacked in October, revealed on Goals on Sunday that he came very close to signing the teenage prodigy when he was in charge of Liverpool.

Rodgers told of how he met up with Alli for two hours in a hotel room after MK Dons manager Karl Robinson tried to engineer a deal for the now-Tottenham Hotspur midfielder to come to Anfield.

Watch more brilliant snippets like this with fanatix’s FREE sports video news app.

Alli is a boyhood Liverpool fan and only cost Spurs £5m in January 2015, but some bright spark on our transfer committee did not think that the youngster represented good value, according to Sky Sports.

It is indicative of our success in the market that we passed up this fantastic opportunity and instead decided it would be sensible to splash out £16m on Mario Balotelli – fee reported by BBC Sport.

Alli, 19, earned his first England cap in October and has been a revelation for Tottenham this season, scoring five goals in 20 Premier League games. It should have been us. It should have been us.

SEE MORE:
Dele Alli contract: Tottenham prodigy signs bumper new deal until 2021 at White Hart Lane

Jordan Henderson says his injury troubles are behind him ahead of United showdown
Klopp atones for Ferguson slip by revealing Man United rejection on eve of derby debut