Napoli midfielder Piotr Zielinski has claimed he was on the verge of completing a move to Liverpool back in January but he didn’t want to leave Serie A side Empoli half way through his loan spell from Udinese.
Speaking to Polish news publication SportoweFakty, he revealed that he agonised over the move and even met with Jurgen Klopp to help make the decision but he opted against making the transfer:
“Everyone said: ‘great offer, Klopp wants you, it’s a fairytale in terms of finances’. All fine, but I wasn’t convinced. I was driving my car and I said to my girlfriend: ‘No, red light, I’m not leaving’. I felt great in Empoli, I didn’t want to leave the lads when we were battling for the European places.”
“My head was a mess. Liverpool finally got a plane and I met with Jurgen Klopp. He said he wanted me in his team. I saw a different world and after returning my head was even a bigger mess.”
Liverpool did return to bid for the 22 year old in the summer as Zielinski believed they would but the Reds could not agree a transfer fee with Udinese, with the Liverpool Echo reporting that a £11.75million bid was rejected. Milan and Napoli were also interested but it eventually became a one horse race as Milan could not come up with the funds due to their ongoing takeover by Chinese investors, leaving Napoli as the only possible destination. The Polish international sealed a £13million too Naples back in early August.
