Since Duje Caleta-Car’s arrival at Southampton, he has shown early signs that he could make a significant impact during his time at the club.
The Croatian international’s standout displays against Arsenal and West Ham United stand out in particular, as he was pivotal to the Saints gaining an unexpected point each from both fixtures.
Starting a mere six Premier League games for Nathan Jones’ side so far, the 26-year-old has already garnered a ton of praise from the St. Mary’s faithful for his titanic showings in defence.
However, the former Marseille centre-back has gone on to discuss how a move to Southampton would possibly have never become a reality, considering he was inches away from joining Liverpool in 2021.
“It [everything surrounding the potential transfer] happened really fast. You know, they get a lot of injured players, central defenders, so my agent called me and said to me, Liverpool is there”, he told HampshireLive.
“They are something different and I wanted to join them because Liverpool is one of the biggest clubs in the world. But it didn’t happen. There was something between Marseille and Liverpool but I don’t want to go into what happened.
“But now, I’m here [at Southampton] and really enjoying it here in England. We play against Liverpool now so it’ll be a good test.”
The fact that a side of Liverpool’s stature were interested in signing Caleta-Car is a testament to his potential to become a top-drawer central defender.
While the highly-rated centre-half would most certainly have helped Jurgen Klopp’s men massively during their injury crisis at the back during the 2020/2021 season, he could well earn a move to a team like Liverpool in the future if he turns heads with his displays for the Saints.
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