German journalist Raphael Honigstein has revealed that Jurgen Klopp actually wanted Bayer Leverkusen’s Julian Brandt and not Mohamed Salah last summer.
Mohamed Salah scored four goals at the weekend when Liverpool hammered Watford 5-0 as the Egyptian continued his astonishing first season at the club.
Despite operating from the wing, Salah is now the leading Premier League scorer this term with 28 strikes and has scored 36 times in 41 matches in all competitions.
It seems inconceivable now that the Reds would have passed up the opportunity to sign the 25-year-old from Roma last summer, but it seems it could have happened if manager Jurgen Klopp had his way.
German journalist Raphael Honigstein revealed on the Totally Football Show podcast that Klopp had actually wanted Bayer Leverkusen’s Julian Brandt, but sporting director Michael Edwards convinced the club to go for Salah.
“Michael Edwards had been getting a lot of criticism in Liverpool for some of the decisions they’ve made over the last few years,” Honigstein said, as quoted by the Times.
“This is one where Klopp has just stepped aside and said, ‘I didn’t really want Salah, but he convinced me to take him.’
“They were going for Julian Brandt, who’s very talented, but it’s inconceivable to think what the season would have looked like if it had been Brandt instead of Salah, because Brandt has been OK but hasn’t turned into one of the best strikers overnight the way that Salah has.”
What could have been
Four years Salah’s junior, like the Egypt international Brandt also plays on the wing but does not have quite the killer instinct in front of goal with nine in 31 games this term.
If the Merseysiders had signed the 21-year-old instead of their current topscorer would they be in the Champions League quarter-finals and once again competing for a top four place? Guess we’ll never know.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
