The big-name move which was scrapped before Mario Balotelli signing

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Mario Balotelli Liverpool

Liverpool weighed-up a move for Samuel Eto’o before they signed Mario Balotelli in 2014, according to Reds journalist Kristian Walsh.

Fans will remember that we were in the market for a Luis Suarez replacement after our top scorer sealed his move to Barcelona.

The prime target, as Walsh noted in his in-depth explanation for the Balotelli deal, was Alexis Sanchez, but he of course opted to join Arsenal.

Attention then turned to Loic Remy, fresh off a season during which he’d impressively bagged 14 goals in 26 league games on loan at Newcastle United.

But that promising transfer was cancelled amid reports of a failed medical, and we had to look elsewhere.

Walsh says that Eto’o was our Plan E in the striker search.

Eto’o had made a temporary move to Chelsea from Russian side Anzhi Makhachkala in 2013/14 and scored 12 goals in all competitions.

Ultimately, we thought better of a swoop for the former Inter Milan and Barcelona man and ended-up landing Balotelli for £16million in the final week of the window.

He would go on to manage only four scores in his solitary season at Anfield under Brendan Rodgers.

It’s a relief that we’ve moved on from this almost scattergun transfer policy, which brought few positive results.

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