Piotr Zielinski was happy to pose with a Liverpool shirt and release countless comments about his admiration for the club and Jurgen Klopp, but it seems the Polish midfielder was over confident in the potential transfer.
Now, Football Italia claim that Napoli have jumped ahead of Liverpool and Borussia Dortmund in the race for Zielinski – the 22-year-old currently owned by Udinese – having spent the past two seasons on loan at Napoli.
The fact we’ve cooled our interest in Zielinski matches stories in the Guardian and the Express which suggested Mamoud Dahoud of Borussia Monchengladbach and not the Udinese man is our primary central midfield target.
The 20-year-old German, born in Syria, works relentlessly and has technical attributes in abundance, but whether his side will sell is another matter. They’ve already lost to Granit Xhaka and Havard Nortdveit to the Premier League this summer, and be loathe to see another depart – especially with a Champions League campaign in 2016/17 on the horizon.
Liverpool may have to break the bank for the prodigious Dahoud, but it might just be worth it. He possesses the characteristics Klopp demands both on and off the ball and has the potential to develop into a midfielder of world-class pedigree.