Everton goalkeeper Asmir Begovic has claimed that he nearly joined Liverpool in the summer of 2013.
Speaking on TalkSPORT, the back-up ‘keeper said he was considered by Liverpool, but was overlooked in favour of Simon Mignolet.
“The main one was Liverpool, it was between me and Mignolet at the time,” said Begovic. “At Stoke I was still under contract for three or four years so they wanted too much money and Mignolet only had one year left and he was a good deal for them, that was a close one.”
Not to be in the end for Begovic, who stayed at Stoke for another two years, before joining Chelsea. Having spent several years at Bournemouth, as well as a couple out on loan, he now serves as back-up to Jordan Pickford.
Life before Alisson Becker
With respect to both Begovic and Mignolet, this kind of story shows just how far Liverpool have come.
Back in 2013, Begovic and Mignolet were both solid Premier League goalkeepers. But they were hardly comparative to the man we have between the sticks now.
The fact that Liverpool shirked at the fee for Begovic but paid £67m for Alisson Becker four years later tells you just how desperately The Reds needed a top goalie.
Thankfully they have one now. Coming off the back of perhaps his best season at Anfield to date, there isn’t a player in the world who we’d swap Alisson for.
Maybe things would have been different if Begovic was secured in 2013. He was twenty-six at the time and was threatening to become a really impressive goalkeeper.
As good as Mignolet was at times for Liverpool, he never seemed to fully convince those in-front of him. Begovic was a bigger presence and perhaps a better all-round ‘keeper.
Either way, that series of events led to us getting one of the best goalkeepers of Liverpool’s storied history. For that reason, we wouldn’t change a thing.