‘Needed a change’; 29-year-old explains why he had to leave Liverpool

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Premier League giants Liverpool had a young Peter Gulacsi in their ranks up to 2015 – now he is a Bundsliga star with RB Leipzig.

Peter Gulacsi has admitted that he felt he had no choice but to leave Liverpool in the summer of 2013 before going to become a Bundesliga star with RB Leipzig, speaking to World Soccer magazine (May edition, page 40).

The Reds might have arguably the best goalkeeper in the game standing between the sticks at Anfield but a 29-year-old Hungarian is not a million miles away from Alisson Becker in the world rankings.

After a trophy-laden spell at Red Bull Salzburg, Gulacsi swapped taurine-powered outfit for another when he moved across the border to join Leipzig in 2015. This most nouveau-riche of teams were still playing second tier football when he arrived – now, Leipzig are challenging for the Bundesliga title while thrashing Tottenham Hotspur in the Champions League.

And while Timo Werner, Marcel Sabitzer and co might hog the headlines, Gulacsi has played a bigger role than anyone in Leipzig’s rise from obscurity to European force.

So if Liverpool could turn back the clock, they would surely have had second thoughts about letting one of Europe’s most reliable custodians leave Anfield on a free transfer in 2015.

“The coaches, led by Rafa Benitez, really paid attention to my development. They were planning step by step how I could reach the level of the first team and be the number one for the club,” Gulacsi remembers.

“Unfortunately, after Rafa left there were many changes at the club with Roy Hodgson, Kenny Dalglish and Brendan Rodgers. They are all fantastic managers, but at that time, because the club was not doing that well, they had other priorities.

“For a young player it’s a difficult situation but one you have to accept and understand. That’s why I decided I needed a change and had to go somewhere else to be a number one keeper.”

Liverpool supporters everywhere were left blown away by Gulacsi’s inspired display in Leipzig’s 1-0 away win at Spurs in February, hailing the development of a man who made more appearances on loan at Tranmere Rovers than he did for the Reds.