Stade Rennes star Jeremy Doku has opened up on his decision to refuse a transfer to Liverpool despite holding talks with Jurgen Klopp, Steven Gerrard and Sadio Mane.
The teenage winger is one of the rising stars in Europe, currently plying his trade in the French Ligue 1 after signing from Anderlecht this summer in a £23 million deal.
However, things could have turned out a lot differently for the Belgian, who had many offers on the table years ago, including top teams in the Premier League.
"I was going to be 16 and that's the age at which you can sign a professional contract. Many teams have come to see me, ”said Doku. West-France .
"Everyone talks about Liverpool because it was the most concrete interest, but there were also Arsenal and Chelsea.
And it looks like Liverpool were particularly keen on attracting the promising youngster to the extent of using their past and present players to try convince and sign Doku.
"I got to chat with Jurgen, Mane, [Georginio] Wijnaldum… Gerrard too. I talked a lot with Mane but we didn't really talk about football. We talked about everything.
"He told me that I was young, that I still had time… he wasn't trying to convince me or to say to me 'come here, you will succeed'. "
The 18-year-old rejected Liverpool's advances to continue development in his home country before moving to France.