Jurgen Klopp once flew 6,000 miles only to see transfer attempt fail, but Liverpool could now finally get the deal done

Jurgen Klopp welcomed many impressive signings to Anfield during his time at Liverpool, but there were some notable deals he missed out on.

For one, the German wanted Julian Brandt before Michael Edwards famously convinced the man from Stuttgart that Mohamed Salah would be a better choice – 245 goals and 113 assists in 401 games for the Egyptian on Merseyside strongly suggests that was the correct call.

Jurgen Klopp also tried hard to sign Rodrygo from Santos before Real Madrid eventually shook hands on a €45m (£38.8m) deal in June 2018 – when the forward was just 17 – but over seven years on from that saga, Liverpool could now finally land the South American.

The story of Jurgen Klopp and Rodrygo

It was Nicolo Arcuri – a football agent – who told Jorge Nicola about Klopp’s obsession with Rodrygo, even flying roughly 6,000 miles from Merseyside to Brazil to meet the wonderkid.

In a video from April 2020, he said: “When Rodrygo went to sign his first professional contract with Santos – aged 16 – a Liverpool director called me saying that Klopp already knew the player and had already come to see Rodrygo personally. He came to Brazil, and Klopp liked him.

“They contacted me, the Liverpool director (Edwards) wanted him to be his first signing. I went to England, sat in London, Liverpool have an office in London. I brought the proposal to Modesto, then President of Santos. Modesto didn’t accept. It turned out that Santos didn’t want to sell Rodrygo and instead offered him a first professional contract.”

A year later, Real Madrid arrived with that aforementioned £38.8m bid, a sum Santos simply could not refuse for a relatively unproven 17-year-old.

Liverpool could now finally bring Rodrygo to Anfield

Now aged 24, the Brazil international has been a roaring success in Madrid, winning La Liga on three occasions, as well as two UEFA Champions League titles, two UEFA Super Cups, one FIFA Club World Cup, the Copa del Rey and the Supercopa de Espana three times.

The man born in Osasco can boast 68 goals and 51 assists in 270 appearances for Real Madrid.

However, TBR Football understand Liverpool have recently been in talks with Rodrygo after the arrival of Xabi Alonso, who has benched the Brazilian in the last four FIFA Club World Cup outings.

Real Madrid are not expected to stand in his way this summer, with Arda Guler preferred in attack for much of the FIFA Club World Cup.

Liverpool face competition from Arsenal and Manchester City for Rodrygo, but having made the South American his first ever transfer proposal, now could finally be the time for the reigning Premier League champions to snap him up.

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