Two men who’ll be on opposite sides in a Champions League match on Tuesday night shared the same training pitch at Liverpool for a very brief period almost a decade ago.
Towards the end of 2014, Suso had just turned 21 and was still seeking a big breakthrough on Merseyside which never came. Around that time, there was a hugely gifted 15-year-old on trial at the club who’d go on to make his mark in the Premier League – a certain Martin Odegaard.
The two of them will face each other when Sevilla face Arsenal tonight, and the Spaniard has recalled how the current Gunners captain caught the eye during that time with the Reds.
Suso told The Guardian: “When I was at Liverpool, Ødegaard came to try out with us for a week. It was that time when everyone wanted him. He trained with Madrid, with Liverpool and a few others.
“He stood out: left-footed, which I always notice more as a left-footer myself, hair like it is now. He had lots of ability. I don’t think I’ve seen him since.”
In the end it was Real Madrid who won the race among numerous high-profile European clubs for Odegaard’s signature for a mere £2.3m (BBC Sport), and while he never quite established himself at the Bernabeu, he was the heartbeat behind Arsenal’s unexpected Premier League title challenge last season.
There must’ve been times over the past 12 months when Liverpool fans looked at how badly Jurgen Klopp’s midfield was struggling and pined wistfully for the influential Norwegian as he illuminated the Emirates Stadium.
He’s now worth a staggering €100m (£87m) according to the CIES Football Observatory, which shows just how incredible a deal the Reds could’ve secured for the now 24-year-old if they’d signed him just after that trial period at Merseyside in the mid-2010s.
Thankfully, Jorg Schmadtke oversaw a productive summer transfer window in which four new midfielders arrived at Anfield, including Dominik Szoboszlai, whose performances have earned rave reviews and seen the Kop instantly fall in love with him.
There may still be a sense of what might’ve been surrounding Odegaard and Liverpool, but when looking back on the success we’ve enjoyed under Klopp, we can reassure ourselves that the manager had the players that he needed in order to land many of the biggest prizes in club football.
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