Yevhen Konoplyanka admits he begged Dnipro to let him join Premier League giants Liverpool in an £18 million deal during the summer of 2014, speaking to Weszlo.
At the age of 32, you would think that both Konoplyanka and fellow Ukranian Andriy Yarmolenko would still have a lot left in the tank. But the fact that both players appear to be winding down their careers in a somewhat ‘lesser’ league suggests that their time at the very top level is coming to a close.
Yarmolenko will be plying his trade under Sergey Rebrov at UAE champions Al-Ain next season. Konoplyanka, meanwhile, moved to Poland with Cracovia after two years back home with Shakhtar Donetsk.
And while the three-time Ukrainian Footballer of the Year can look back fondly on a more-than respectable career when he hangs up his boots, the pride will be checked by a pang of regret. A nagging chorus of ‘what might’ve been’
Yevhen Konoplyanka could have joined Liverpool
“I was crying. A delegation of serious people from Liverpool came to Dnipropetrovsk. We ate dinner. They were (willing) to pay as much as (Dnipro owner) Ihor Kolomoyskyi wanted,” Konoplyanka recalls.
“Martin Skrtel wrote me a message; ‘We are waiting for you’. Steven Gerrard also gave me his blessing.
“I used to go to Kolomoyskyi; ‘Please, please, please, let me go. It will make my dream come true’. I begged.
“Liverpool offered 25 million euros (£18 million). But I didn’t feel disappointed about going to Sevilla.”
In a somewhat ironic twist of fate, Konoplyanka was part of the Sevilla squad who denied Jurgen Klopp his first trophy as Liverpool manager during the 2016 UEFA Europa League final. But it’s tempting to wonder where the once dazzling winger would be today if he’d got his dream move to Merseyside nearly a decade ago.
How many more pieces of silverware would he have on his mantelpiece? Would he still be a Liverpool player now, ageing gracefully under Klopp’s tutelage?
“For Konoplyanka, whom Liverpool wanted to buy, a specific amount was assigned. The British club fought until the last (minute to sign him),” Dnipro CEO Andriy Stetsenko explained a couple of months ago, giving his side of the story.
“Then their representatives flew to us on a private jet for the final stage of negotiations. In case of a positive outcome, Konoplyanka was supposed to fly away with them.
“(Liverpool) did not agree with the figure that was asked of them. Perhaps they thought that a private jet would make some impression. That showed the seriousness of their intentions.
“(But Dnipro) did not go for a price reduction. As a result, Liverpool flew away with nothing.”
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