For years, the collapse of a deal for Nabil Fekir was a failure Liverpool fans looked back on, but if that transfer had gone through, Alisson would not have signed.
That is according to Jurgen Klopp, who spoke as part of the club’s docuseries ‘Alisson: My Story’.
Liverpool’s interest in Alisson arose before Loris Karius‘ calamitous performance in the Champions League final, but a move only became possible in the weeks after the defeat to Real Madrid.
Recalling the Brazilian’s £65 million move to Merseyside, Klopp explained the plan had been to continue working with Karius as No. 1 – until it was clear Alisson was available.
Even then, it took the breakdown of a £52 million deal for French attacking midfielder Fekir – after a medical and media duties with the club – for Liverpool to finance the transfer.
“We all know the story around the Champions League final. We had to estimate, to judge, how [Karius] would deal, how the public would deal with that,” Klopp said.
“We were all hoping he could become stronger after that, maybe it can be a turning point into a good direction.
“But then all of a sudden we heard then that Ali is on the market.
“It was my absolute dream. When you dream or think about the team, you set it up from the back. And that was the moment we said ‘OK, we have to try it’.
“The interesting part is that we were close to signing Fekir. And if we sign Fekir, we don’t have the money for Ali.
“It was obviously a pretty important decision for the future of LFC!”
Exactly why Liverpool pulled out of their deal for Fekir is still being disputed to this day, with claims of concerns over a medical or the negative influence of the player’s entourage.
But it was clearly a blessing in disguise, with Klopp describing his first meeting with Alisson as “love at first sight.”
“We spoke obviously before, just on the phone, but I was so impressed by the god. Oh my god,” the former manager continued.
“Maybe there’s footage of that first session, possibly. He made a few saves and we were like ‘what?!’.
“Shots from 10, 12 yards, far corner, and he just [got to them]. ‘Oh, that’s possible? Great’.
“We were a bit like kids in a candy shop, ‘oh my god, what did we get here?’.
“John Achterberg, it’s like he got a Christmas present, ‘oh my god, Alisson Becker is now around!’.”
It has been suggested that Liverpool could have brought in either Fekir and Jack Butland or Alisson and Xherdan Shaqiri – clearly it was a situation which worked out for the best.
Fekir now plays for Al Jazira in the UAE Pro League while Butland is at Rangers following spells with Stoke, Crystal Palace and a loan as backup at Man United.
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