Former Ukraine international Artem Milevsky could have joined Premier League giants Liverpool before winding down his career in Belarus instead.
That is according to Marcel Lichka, the coach who worked briefly with the well-travelled centre-forward during his time at Dynamo Brest.
Liverpool, the Daily Mirror say, came calling for the then-£13 million-rated Milevsky during Roy Hodgson’s short-lived and ill-fated tenure in the Anfield dugout over a decade ago.
Milevsky had scored 19 goals for Dynamo Kiev that previous season, but opted to stay in the Ukrainian capital while signing a three-year contract extension.
And while Lichka enjoyed working alongside the now-38-year-old marksman in Belarus, he cannot help but wonder how high Milevksy might have flown had the two-time Ukrainian Footballer of the Year been a little more cool-headed.
Liverpool missed out on former Ukraine star Artem Milevsky
“You could say he’s a little crazy,” Lichka tells the Rodny Football Telegram channel. “It is clear that, if he had another head, he would not have played for Brest at the end of his career.
“He received offers from Liverpool and Portugal. But that’s his private life.”
According to the Daily Mail, Newcastle and Tottenham Hotspur both showed an interest after Milevsky featured for Ukraine at Euro 2012. He would never get the chance to showcase his talents in England, however, instead spending time in Turkey, Croatia, Romania, Russia and Hungary.
“He is a great player. In training, he never let anyone go,” Lichka adds, via FanDay. “He did not like to lose. Sometimes, he was so hot that I had to calm him down.
“In two years with Mile, (I had) no problems at all. I like these players. Sometimes it was hard with him but, on the field, he is a winner. He was only interested in winning.”
Milevsky is not the only former Ukraine international who could have ended up at Liverpool if things had worked out differently.
“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,” recalls ex-Sevilla winger Yevhen Konoplyanka.
“Martin Skrtel wrote me a message; ‘We are waiting for you’. Steven Gerrard also gave me his blessing. ‘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.”
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