A former member of Brendan Rodgers’ Liverpool backroom staff once said that the club was close to signing Tottenham star Son Heung-min before he moved to London, but instead chose to sign one of the club’s biggest flops. Since Jurgen Klopp’s arrival, Liverpool’s recruitment has been consistently excellent, with players like as Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk, and Alisson Becker proving to be huge successes.
Prior to that era, Liverpool fought to regain their past grandeur under a variety of administrations, frequently failing to cover themselves in glory in the transfer market. With hindsight being 20/20, things may have turned out quite differently if they had chosen to sign the South Korean star rather than someone who had previously set a club record.
Liverpool made a mistake that cost them their son.
Former research director Ian Graham revealed on Running the Game that Liverpool’s recruitment team almost brought Son to the club but instead went with a player who, at the time, had more Premier League experience, as requested by Brendan Rodgers.
“In a different timeline, Son and Firmino would be Liverpool’s frontline. Firmino and Son were our first and second picks for forwards, but Son went to Tottenham, and we signed Christian Benteke instead.
“Yes, yeah. A different type of player. Which is great; the manager preferred that style at the time. Even at Spurs, I adored him.”
Despite being warned that Benteke was not the right fit for the team, Rodgers insisted on signing him, and the Reds paid a club record £32.5 million for the striker. At the time of his move in 2015, he had made 101 appearances for Aston Villa over three years, averaging nearly a goal every other game and scoring 49 for the Midlands club.
However, he only made 10 appearances in 42 games for Merseyside and was moved a season later to Crystal Palace. Meanwhile, Son went on to become one of the finest wingers in Premier League history during his decade-long tenure at Tottenham.
Both individuals now call the United States home, with Benteke captaining DC United and Son joining LA FC as a star signing.
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