Ex-Santos Coach Elano: Liverpool Made 'Low' Offer for Rodrygo Before Real Madrid

Liverpool made an offer to sign Rodrygo Goes from Santos before Real Madrid came in with their bid, according to Elano, the former interim manager of the Brazilian club.  

Rodrygo, 18, announced himself on the European stage on Wednesday when he netted a hat-trick for Real in their 6-0 UEFA Champions League victory against Galatasaray at the Santiago Bernabeu:

It was only his second appearance in the competition following his arrival at Real in June, a year on from Los Blancos reaching an agreement to sign him from Santos for £40 million.

According to former Manchester City player Elano, who was caretaker manager at Santos when Rodrygo was first called up to the senior team, Liverpool were also interested in the young attacker, per ESPN (h/t Marca):

"There was strong interest from Liverpool for the kid when he was in the youth teams, and they wanted him, but the offer was low. Then the offer arrived from Real Madrid. I had a chat with the club, and I told them the kid was worth gambling on and that I would like to work with him."

Rodrygo, who has represented Brazil at youth level, recently said he had not expected as much first-team action as he has had so far this season under manager Zinedine Zidane. 

As well as his two Champions League appearances, he has played in four of Real's 11 La Liga games this term, netting two goals:

Had he ended up at Liverpool, it is unlikely he would have been given as many minutes due to the Reds' superlative attacking line.

Unless forced to do otherwise, Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp tends to deploy his best front three of Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane in Premier League and Champions League games.

If he had moved to Anfield, Rodrygo would be in direct competition with Salah for the position on the right flank, and the Egyptian is all but undroppable after two brilliant seasons on Merseyside.

At the Santiago Bernabeu, the situation is much more fluid. Rodrygo has taken full advantage of the game time afforded to him while Gareth Bale and James Rodriguez have been out injured, and he looks set to be a future superstar in Madrid.