Former Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has admitted that one of the club’s most important signings in history almost didn’t happen.
The German transformed the Reds’ fortunes when he arrived in October 2015, going on to win the Champions League and Premier League, among other trophies.
Klopp brought in players who have become Liverpool legends over time, including Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk and Alisson, but the latter almost didn’t come to Anfield.
In quotes related by This Is Anfield, the 58-year-old admitted that the Brazilian wouldn’t have joined the Reds if Nabil Fekir hadn’t failed a medical in the summer of 2018.
“We all know the story around the Champions League final. We had to estimate, to judge, how [Karius] would deal, how the public would deal with that,” Klopp said.
“We were all hoping he could become stronger after that, maybe it can be a turning point into a good direction. But then all of a sudden we heard then that Ali is on the market.
“It was my absolute dream. When you dream or think about the team, you set it up from the back. And that was the moment we said ‘OK, we have to try it’.
“The interesting part is that we were close to signing Fekir. And if we sign Fekir, we don’t have the money for Ali. It was obviously a pretty important decision for the future of LFC!”
Imagine Liverpool without Ali in goal!
While Fekir could easily have been an exciting signing at the time, the idea of Liverpool not having Alisson between the sticks over the past seven years doesn’t bear thinking about.
The 32-year-old is not only a strong contender for being one of the best Premier League goalkeepers of all time, but also in the history of the game.
He and Van Dijk’s arrival in 2018 completely changed Liverpool as a force, and the pair remain as good as ever in 2025, playing a huge role in last season’s Premier League triumph.
Goalkeepers of Alisson’s quality are bordering on once-in-a-generation talents, and replacing him will be an almost impossible task for the Reds, even though Giorgi Mamardashivili is an exciting new signing this summer.
