Adebayo Akinfenwa has admitted that he was very excited by the possibility of Liverpool signing Kalidou Koulibaly.
Koulibaly, rated at £89 million by Napoli, was heavily linked with a move to Anfield last summer.
But a move to Liverpool never materialised and the Reds actually wound up signing nobody to replace Dejan Lovren, which you could argue has led to their problems this season.
All three of Jurgen Klopp’s senior centre-backs have fallen injured this season – Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez haven’t played since October – and it has undoubtedly harmed the Merseyside club’s chances of retaining their Premier League title, with Manchester City 16 points ahead of them already.
In retrospect, breaking the bank on Koulibaly might not have been such a bad idea, and Akinfenwa, a Liverpool fan, admits that he would’ve loved to see him and Van Dijk form what would’ve been a ‘crazy partnership’ in central defence.
He told Anfield Watch: “Koulibaly, when that was coming in, I was like ooh you know what if Liverpool get him that could be real problematic and that just adds on to what Liverpool had done last season. But, boy, who would have foretold what would have happened with the defenders we have injured at the moment.
“Koulibaly, I thought when Liverpool was linked with that I thought that would be a crazy partnership with Van Dijk. He has pace, power, experience and I thought that would be crazy.”
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
