A report from The Athletic has explained why Liverpool opted not to pursue Declan Rice before he completed his club-record move to Arsenal.
The 24-year-old has joined the Gunners from West Ham for £105m, a record fee for a transfer between two British clubs (Sky Sports), and had been mentioned as a possible target for the Reds over the past few months.
However, it seems that the Merseysiders were never in the running for the England international because they were instead focused on an ultimately unsuccessful pursuit of one of his Three Lions teammates.
The Athletic outlined: “Liverpool chose to steer clear of even meeting the Rices. They were never truly in the running and a source said that was also with Jude Bellingham in mind, as they were in the mix for his signature at the time and didn’t want his camp to be irked. Rice’s fellow England midfielder Bellingham went on to sign for Real Madrid.”
As we now know, Liverpool’s pursuit of Bellingham perished on the rocks of baulking at Borussia Dortmund’s valuation of him before he eventually sealed his move to the Bernabeu for a fee potentially rising to £115m (BBC Sport).
Now that Fabinho looks like he could be on his way out of Anfield, having not flown to Germany with the rest of the squad for their pre-season training camp amid a £40m offer from Al-Ittihad, the Reds may well be regretting their inactivity regarding Rice.
Although his signing would’ve required a nine-figure outlay, he’d have come in as the perfect successor to the Brazilian in the number 6 role for a number of reasons.
He’s still only 24 but has already played more than 200 Premier League games and appeared in two European finals at club and international level, while his nationality would’ve helped towards our homegrown quota requirements.
Instead of making a move for him when they had the opportunity to do so, Liverpool now look like they’ll be left scrambling for a replacement for Fabinho who can be entrusted to start in Jurgen Klopp’s team for the visit to Chelsea in 29 days’ time.
#Ep80 of The Empire of the Kop Podcast: Fabinho & Jordan Henderson… going, going, gone?🎙️
Another s hit show of a season coming up. We’re the new Chelsea….with half the team newbies