9 players we can’t believe rejected moves to Liverpool: Ronaldo, Caicedo, Vidic…
Liverpool are one of world football’s most famous clubs – but that doesn’t mean they haven’t been rejected by a player in their illustrious history.
Despite a plethora of trophies and the allure of playing at Anfield, some footballers have turned down Liverpool’s advances in favour of either staying put or moving to another club.
With Martin Zubimendi having decided to stay at Real Sociedad rather than join Liverpool, we’ve identified nine other players who also said no to the Reds.
Moises Caicedo
In the summer of 2023, Caicedo was highly in demand after a string of stunning performances for Brighton and was linked with both Chelsea and Liverpool for months ahead of his £115million switch to Stamford Bridge.
Liverpool thought they’d snared the player with a bid north of £100million, with Jurgen Klopp even waxing lyrical about the player in an interview before Chelsea gazumped them.
Speaking in an interview with The Athletic, Caicedo admitted: “It was difficult. So difficult. As you know, Liverpool is a big team. As is Chelsea.
“But Chelsea was with me for a couple of months. I could not miss out on them. Because they were with me in tough moments when Brighton didn’t want to let me go. It was a difficult decision but, for sure, 100 percent, I knew I wanted to go to Chelsea.”
The Ecuador international endured a difficult debut season at Stamford Bridge, but gradually improved alongside the rest of his team-mates.
Romeo Lavia
Liverpool made three bids for Lavia in 2023 before finally having a £60million offer accepted by recently-relegated Southampton.
But, just days after securing Caicedo, Chelsea weren’t finished and convinced the young Belgian midfielder to move to Stamford Bridge instead.
Lavia reportedly felt that Liverpool had ‘played with him’ and didn’t consider him a priority signing but rather as ‘second choice’.
He endured a nightmare debut campaign at Chelsea thanks to a succession of injuries while Liverpool finished third in their final season under Klopp.
Cristiano Ronaldo
Yes, we’re not joking. History could’ve been so different…
Ronaldo had impressed many during his formative years at Sporting Lisbon and, in 2003, Gerard Houllier spotted him in the Toulon Under-21 tournament and was determined to bring him to Anfield.
However, the 18-year-old Ronaldo refused to budge on his salary demands which were deemed too high for Liverpool’s strict wage structure.
As the Reds were weighing up signing a wonderkid but upsetting their dressing room, Manchester United played a friendly against Sporting Lisbon.
Cristiano Ronaldo dazzled and mugged off several United players who insisted Sir Alex Ferguson sign him. The rest is history.
Nemanja Vidic
Vidic was one of the best defenders in Premier League history, despite being continually tormented by Fernando Torres, but he could have been lining up alongside the Spaniard at Anfield if history had been slightly different.
Back in the winter of 2005-06, Rafa Benitez tried to convince him several times to sign for Liverpool but the Serbian was worried about moving to England.
Step forward Sir Alex Ferguson, who contacted Vidic during his negotiations with Liverpool, taking little time persuading the defender that the Premier League was the right place for him, but only as a Manchester United player.
Liverpool’s deal had been usurped by United and they signed him from Spartak Moscow for £7million.
Diego Costa
The combative Costa seemed perfect for the Premier League and Liverpool was keen on bringing the top-class striker to the club in 2014 to replace the outgoing Luis Suarez.
However, twinkle-eyed Jose Mourinho was able to convince Costa that a move to Chelsea would be better for him and the Spaniard ended up moving to Stamford Bridge.
Costa won the Premier League with Chelsea in both 2015 and 2017, while Liverpool ended up having Mario Balotelli and Rickie Lambert leading the line instead.
But the Reds might have won the war; the striker left Chelsea under a cloud in 2018 just as the Mane-Salah-Firimino trio were beginning to click. Perhaps Jordan Henderson’s death stare planted the seed of dread in Costa’s head…
READ: Revisiting when Jordan Henderson’s stare made Diego Costa sh*t bricks
Gareth Barry
Memories of Rafa Benitez’s willingness to sell Xabi Alonso in favour of Gareth Barry in the summer of 2008 are enough to make Liverpool fans wake up in a cold sweat.
Neither move materialised before 2008-09, but Alonso was understandably peeved and left for Real Madrid 12 months later.
With a massive hole to fill in their midfield, Liverpool would’ve expected to sign Barry but the England international chose to move to Manchester City instead.
The Reds ended up splurging £17million on Alberto Aquiliani and failed to replace Alonso until deep into the Klopp era.
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Gylfi Sigurdsson
After making his name at Swansea for his set-piece deliveries and composure, Sigurdsson was nearly signed by Liverpool in 2012.
But the Iceland playmaker opted to join Tottenham instead, as he was reportedly more impressed by their ambitious project under Andre Villas-Boas.
Further rumours hinted at Sigurdsson’s desire for consistent game time and an attractive financial package also contributed to his decision to snub Liverpool in favour of Spurs.
He did end up on Merseyside in 2017 after signing for Everton, but Sigurdsson was ultimately a class below Liverpool’s standard under Jurgen Klopp.
Christian Pulisic
“I was never really thinking about going to Liverpool.” Pulisic told FourFourTwo about rejecting Liverpool for Borussia Dortmund in 2016.
“Dortmund have given me everything. If I work very hard here I will play, and I love this club.”
There was a repeat three years later. In search of more creativity, Klopp viewed Pulisic as a key target and held talks with Dortmund over a potential move, as well as the American’s representatives.
But Pulisic opted for a move to Chelsea instead after being promised a key role in their latest rebuild.
It never quite happened for him at Stamford Bridge, but the USMNT’s poster boy is currently enjoying life at AC Milan and Liverpool struggled on with Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah on the wings.
Michael Laudrup
One of the greatest players of his generation, Laudrup actually agreed to sign for Liverpool in 1983, but the move fell through when The Reds asked the Denmark international to add an extra year to his previously-agreed-upon three-year contract.
Laudrup decided to abandon his deal with the English club, instead joining Juventus from Brondby the same summer.
One of the best attacking midfielders in the world on his day, there’s no denying Liverpool dropped the ball on this one despite their run of success in the 1980s.