Securing Alisson was in many ways, the final piece of the jigsaw for Jurgen Klopp’s Reds…
Shortly after the Champions League Final in Kiev in 2018, we bought Fabinho, but fans were longing out for an elite no.1 to replace Loris Karius, who had proven in the summer friendlies his confidence from the defeat to Real Madrid had been well and truly rocked.
But buying Alisson was not a knee-jerk decision, according to the excellent Neil Jones – but something the club had been preparing for for some time.
Jones claims our sporting director had actually been aware of the Brazilian for five years and had been actively talking to his representatives for a whole year, aware that the likes of Real Madrid and Chelsea may also come in.
“Alisson had been on their radar for five years, having been flagged up by former Reds ‘keeper Alexander Doni while playing for Internacional,” Jones writes in Goal. “Prior to Kiev, sporting director Michael Edwards had spent the best part of 12 months negotiating with the player’s representatives, convincing him that Liverpool, and not Real Madrid, Napoli or Chelsea, all of whom were keen to sign him, was the best place for him.”
Alisson is the best keeper we’ve ever seen guard net at Anfield, in short. And with Virgil van Dijk ahead of him, opposition attackers face a truly horrendous task every week.
In fact, with Ali between the sticks, we’d likely still be in the Champions League – and favourites to win it as well.
Considering he’s only 27, young for a goalkeeper, he could genuinely become one of the all-time greats.