Alisson Becker’s move to Liverpool only happened after one transfer fell through right at the death.
In 2018, Liverpool sought a new goalkeeper following Loris Karius’s two crucial errors in the Champions League final against Real Madrid. The Reds ultimately signed Brazilian Alisson from AS Roma in Serie A for a reported £66.9 million. Since joining, Alisson has been a key player in Jurgen Klopp’s successful tenure at Anfield.
It has come to light that Liverpool’s situation might have been quite different if they had completed the transfer of French midfielder Nabil Fekir. In 2018, it was reported that Liverpool had agreed on a £52.8 million deal with Lyon for Fekir, but the transfer eventually fell through.
In a recent interview on The Football Historian Podcast, former Liverpool goalkeeper coach John Achterberg discussed how Fekir’s failed transfer affected Alisson’s acquisition. Achterberg mentioned, “I would have had no issue starting with Danny Ward as the No. 1, but that was never really considered. It was somewhat like the boss said both Ward and Karius would get a fair chance. Both had issues in pre-season, which led to the decision that we needed a new goalkeeper.”
Achterberg continued, “It all came together in the end because if we had signed [Nabil] Fekir, we wouldn’t have had the funds for Alisson. We were fortunate that the Fekir deal fell through.”
He added, “I told the boss that we needed to act quickly because Chelsea was also interested in Alisson and would be selling Courtois to Madrid. We had to secure the transfer before that happened, and that’s exactly what we did.”
After missing the move to Liverpool, Fekir joined Real Betis in La Liga in 2019 for £26.7 million. Now 31, Fekir is the captain of Betis and is set to face Liverpool on Friday as they begin their pre-season tour of the United States.
