Maxime Lopez has claimed that he rejected a move to join Liverpool when he was 16-years-old.
Now 24, Lopez plays for Sassuolo in Serie A having joined from Marseille in 2020. But the midfielder claims that he could have left his hometown club for Liverpool, years before he eventually did.
“I said no to Liverpool when I was 16 because I didn’t feel ready to leave at such a young age,” Lopez told La Gazzetta dello Sport via Football Italia.
That would have meant that Lopez was courted by Liverpool during Brendan Rodgers’ time at the club.
He would likely have been drafted into the younger age sides before potentially making the step up to the first team.
The Frenchman was an early bloomer at Marseille. Despite being just 5 foot 6 inches tall, Lopez broke into the team as an 18-year-old.
He went on to play 150 times for OM before departing for Italy.
Should Liverpool rekindle their interest
Unfortunately for Lopez, it’s unlikely that Liverpool regret his decision to turn them down too much.
He is a solid performer for Sassuolo, but he isn’t exactly setting the world alight for a club who sit exactly mid-table in Serie A this season.
Lopez does have some admirers in lofty places though.
Whilst still a young player breaking through at Marseille, he was praised by the clubs most famous academy product – Zinedine Zidane.
The former Real Madrid boss called Lopez a player of ‘outstanding natural talent’ via Goal.
That’s a heck of a compliment coming from a player of Zidane’s quality.
Still relatively young, there is time for Lopez to make good on Zizou’s words yet. He is obviously a talented player who performs well in his role as a more defensively-minded midfielder.
A lot of time has passed and personnel has changed since he claimed Liverpool showed an interest in him.
But The Reds are meticulous in their scouting. It’s likely that the club have followed Lopez’s path since then.
If he can take his game to another level, who knows, maybe Liverpool will get him on the phone again.
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