Ranking the Premier League Stars Who Spurned the Chance to Join Liverpool
Liverpool fans knew their unbeaten home run would end eventually—but no one expected it to be against a team who arrived at Anfield sitting bottom of the Premier League.
Saturday's 3-2 defeat to Swansea City was the Reds' first setback in front of their own fans in nearly a year.
Their last home loss came in the second leg of last season's EFL Cup semi-finals, on January 26, 2016. Yet, despite the 1-0 result against Stoke City, Liverpool still triumphed on penalties to reach Wembley.
There was no reason to celebrate after the game against Swansea at the weekend, though. What was viewed as a home banker, a certain three points in a title challenge, turned out to be a coupon buster.
Although Roberto Firmino's double cancelled out Fernando Llorente's brace to make it 2-2, the visitors grabbed the all-important fifth goal.
Gylfi Sigurdsson benefited from a lucky break to tuck home a loose ball in the 74th minute. What made the strike even more painful for the hosts, however, is the midfielder could well have been in their lineup.
Back in 2012, Sigurdsson seemed set to sign for then-Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers before joining a domestic rival instead.
He isn't the only current Premier League player who never quite made it to Merseyside.
Here, Bleacher Report looks at five attackers currently in the Premier League who nearly joined Liverpool—and ranks them in order of suitability for Jurgen Klopp's current squad.
Please note: Only signings by English teams from foreign clubs were considered.
5. Gylfi Sigurdsson
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When Rodgers left Swansea to take charge at Liverpool in the summer of 2012, Sigurdsson seemed set to follow him from (his temporary home in) south Wales.
The Iceland international had enjoyed a highly successful loan spell under Rodgers during the second half of the 2011/12 season, managing seven goals and five assists in 18 Premier League appearances.
According to David Maddock of the Mirror, a deal was in place to move to the Liberty Stadium on a permanent basis from Hoffenheim, but the player was unsure about the switch following Rodgers' departure.
Yet the blossoming player-manager relationship suddenly became a love triangle. Tottenham Hotspur fluttered their eyelids, and Sigurdsson joined them for a fee of £8.5 million.
Was it the right choice, though?
Well, Sigurdsson spent two seasons at White Hart Lane (making more appearances off the bench than starts) before rekindling his romance with Swansea.
He's still going strong with them, as every Liverpool fan can testify after Saturday.
How would he fit in the current Liverpool team?
Goalscoring midfielders always come in handy, no matter what system you choose to play.
In Jurgen Klopp's favoured 4-3-3 formation, Sigurdsson could work as the most advanced of the three middlemen or even potentially on the left wing.
However, he would face stiff competition for playing time, most notably from Philippe Coutinho and Adam Lallana. It is tough to see how Sigurdsson would be a regular starter right now.
4. Willian
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When Anzhi Makhachkala confirmed they were cutting costs and wanted to cash in on Willian in August 2013, Liverpool had high hopes of bringing the player to Anfield.
According to James Pearce of the Liverpool Echo, the club held positive talks with the player's representatives over a big-money move.
But, as was the case in their efforts to get Sigurdsson the previous summer, Tottenham proved more of a temptation. Perhaps the lure of London, plus the chance to play European football, swung it Spurs' way.
Well, it did until Chelsea suddenly stepped in. Despite undergoing a medical at White Hart Lane, Willian ended up spurning Spurs to move to Stamford Bridge.
The Blues forked out £30.18 million, with Willian announcing on his arrival: "I'm very happy to be here, it's been a dream of mine to come and play here."
For Tottenham, it was all scarcely believable. As for Liverpool, they were just trying to cope with the nightmare of missing out on yet another potential recruit.
How would he fit in the current Liverpool team?
After the deal to Chelsea was completed, Rodgers said, per the Daily Post: "It's disappointing because this was a player who would have been perfect for us."
That sentence still rings true today, too. A willingness to work, coupled with his abilities on the ball, would make Willian ideal for Klopp's 2016/17 group.
He'd feel right at home alongside compatriots Coutinho and Firmino, while the Reds would welcome his presence now to help cover for the absence of Sadio Mane.
3. Henrikh Mkhitaryan
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The summer of 2013 proved to be a particularly frustrating one for Liverpool and their manager at the time, Rodgers.
Before Willian turned the Reds down, Henrikh Mkhitaryan rejected the club's advances to join Borussia Dortmund...managed by a certain Jurgen Klopp.
In leaving Shakhtar Donetsk, Mkhitaryan decided he wasn't quite ready for the rigours of playing in England.
"Half of me thought I had to go there, the other half was not so confident, that the gap to the Premier League might be too big for a skinny player from the Ukrainian League," he later told Joe Bernstein of the Mail on Sunday.
Mkhitaryan spent three years in the Bundesliga, although his best personal season with Dortmund came not under Klopp but his replacement, Thomas Tuchel, as he scored 18 goals in the 2015/16 campaign.
Now, of course, he is playing in the Premier League, having joined Liverpool's rivals Manchester United last summer.
How would he fit in the current Liverpool team?
Klopp knows all about Mkhitaryan and his abilities on the field. Their final season together (2014/15) in Germany did not go well, however. The team struggled, finishing in seventh place, while the player's output in terms of goals dropped off sharply.
"I had many hard nights in my apartment in Dortmund, all alone, just thinking and thinking. I didn't want to go outside, even to have dinner," Mkhitaryan wrote for The Players' Tribune last year.
Still, the Armenia international's versatility would make him a good fit at Liverpool. We've ranked him above Willian because of his familiarity with gegenpressing.
2. Diego Costa
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Before he was a Blue, and long before Chinese football had the financial clout to turn his head, Diego Costa was targeted by Liverpool.
According to Ben Smith of BBC Sport, Rodgers offered £21 million to Atletico Madrid for the forward in the summer of 2013.
Per Smith's story, Rodgers was "hopeful of completing the deal swiftly," as the sum offered would trigger a release clause. However, the transfer never materialised.
Costa stayed put in Madrid and scored just the 36 goals the following season, helping Atletico not only win La Liga but also reach the final of the Champions League (where they lost to Real Madrid).
After joining Chelsea for £32.30 million in 2014, he won the Premier League title in his first year at Stamford Bridge.
So why didn't he end up at Anfield? According to Fran Gillen's biography on the player, Jose Mourinho threw a mighty big spanner in the works.
"Chelsea and Mourinho made their case to Costa and Atletico: turn down Liverpool now and we will sign you—for more money—in 12 months," Gillen wrote in Diego Costa: The Art of War (h/t Kristian Walsh of the Liverpool Echo).
How would he fit in the current Liverpool team?
Costa has scored 15 goals in 20 Premier League appearances for table-topping Chelsea this season. In his entire career at the club, he's tallied 64 in a century of appearances.
You'd hope a good manager would find a way to make it work with such a prolific scorer, although Daniel Sturridge's spluttering Liverpool career shows Klopp focuses on the team, not certain individuals.
Costa, though, is a menace to opposing defences. His sheer physical presence up top makes a difference—Liverpool could certainly have done with him against Swansea on Saturday, for instance.
1. Alexis Sanchez
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When Liverpool looked for a replacement for the talismanic Luis Suarez in 2014, Alexis Sanchez topped their list of targets.
Sanchez was deemed surplus to requirements at Barcelona with Suarez coming in, and it appeared he could make the reverse journey to the Uruguayan.
However, the Reds' hopes of completing a deal ahead of their return to the Champions League were dashed by familiar foes.
Arsenal squeezed out both Liverpool and Italian club Juventus to win the race to sign Sanchez for a fee in the region of £30 million (Transfermarkt lists the sum at a rather precise £36.13 million).
"Playing regularly wasn't the only reason why I came here—I came here to win the league title, the Champions League and every title at stake," the player said, per James Dickenson of the Express.
Sanchez settled quickly to life in English football, scoring 25 goals in his debut season.
He is still a pivotal figure in Arsene Wenger's squad today, although the titles he talked about winning on his arrival have so far eluded him (bar one FA Cup winners' medal).
How would he fit in the current Liverpool team?
Rodgers had to settle for Mario Balotelli instead, the footballing equivalent of heading out for a three-course meal only to end up eating a kebab.
As for Klopp this season, he would surely relish having Sanchez as part of his forward line, whether using him in a central role or cutting in from the left wing.
The 28-year-old is an excellent finisher blessed with blistering pace, plus he also works hard when out of possession.
Just imagine lining Sanchez and Mane up either side of Firmino in a front three...
All statistics and transfer fees used were from Transfermarkt unless otherwise stated.
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