Alisson Explains Why He Chose Liverpool Transfer over Chelsea Move

Alisson has explained that he chose to move to Liverpool rather than Chelsea last summer because he admired the Reds' history, while the Blues were changing manager and had not qualified for the UEFA Champions League.

The Merseyside outfit paid €75 million (£66.8 million) to sign Alisson from Roma after Loris Karius' high-profile errors played a part in them not winning the UEFA Champions League final in May.

The Brazilian has been largely superb this term as Liverpool have set the pace in the Premier League and conceded fewer goals (10 in 21 games) than any other side.

It could have been very different had Chelsea managed to persuade Alisson to join them instead, but the 26-year-old has said he thought Liverpool was a better place to be to advance his career in an interview for the February edition of FourFourTwo magazine:

"I chose Liverpool for the same reasons I went to Roma when I first left Brazil—I thought this would be the best move for my career. Chelsea were changing their manager and not playing in the Champions League. I've also always admired Liverpool's history. This is a club with five European Cups in their trophy cabinet. I really wanted to be part of that history."

Liverpool's defensive strength this season is the key reason for their lead over defending champions Manchester City in the title race:

They have kept 12 clean sheets this season and are conceding an average of less than 0.5 goals per game.

Last term, they finished 25 points behind champions City in fourth while conceding 38 goals, exactly one per game.

That was their best season defensively since Rafael Benitez's final term in charge at Anfield in 2009-10.

Virgil van Dijk has rightly taken a great deal of credit for his impact on Liverpool's back line since his £75 million transfer from Southampton a year ago:

But Alisson also deserves some plaudits as he is noticeably the best goalkeeper Liverpool have had for some time.

Before Karius took the No. 1 spot midway through last term, the equally unreliable Simon Mignolet had been Liverpool's first-choice stopper since 2013.

Not since Pepe Reina have Liverpool had a such a reliable presence in between the posts, and Alisson could play a key role in the Reds winning their first league title since 1990.