Liverpool were beaten by Napoli in the race for Piotr Zielinski in the summer of 2016.
According to a report from the Mirror, Liverpool missed out on signing current Napoli ace Piotr Zielinski in 2016 because they refused to raise their offer from £11.5 million to £13 million for the then Udinese man.
The 23-year-old is an orthodox central midfielder, but can also play in the left wing role, and following Philippe Coutinho’s exit from the club last month, the Poland international really could have made a difference to Jürgen Klopp’s side.
The Reds have arguably the most fearsome attacking line-up in England, but there are question marks hanging over the strength in depth available to Klopp.
That, combined with Emre Can’s expected exit in the summer, makes Liverpool’s refusal to match Udinese’s £13 million asking price for Zielinski all the more baffling.
The 23-year-old has already drawn huge praise within the game, with the head of the Polish football association Zbigniew Boniek claiming that he already has more quality than Manchester City’s Kevin De Bruyne, as quoted by the Mirror:
“He will be the next De Bruyne? I think Zielinski already has more quality than De Bruyne. They are different kind of players, of course, but they have the same ability to leave their mark on the team. I think that he will become a top player.”
The Mirror claim that had Liverpool offered £13 million for Zielinski, they would have sealed the deal to sign him 18 months ago, and their failure to bring him to Anfield is beginning to look like a huge error.
Hindsight is a wonderful thing, though, and it is hard to be too critical of Klopp, especially after some of the excellent signings that he made last summer, including the quite brilliant Mohamed Salah.
And who knows, the German might just go back in for the Napoli ace at some point in the future.
He will not come cheap, though, with a €65 million (£57.2 million) release clause inserted into his contract, according to Corriere dello Sport.
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