Liverpool always felt ‘perfect’ player was going to Arsenal, it’s why they didn’t try to sign him

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Liverpool didn’t bother making a move to sign Declan Rice as they knew he preferred to join Arsenal.

The Reds were rumoured to be one of the teams looking at Rice as he prepared to leave West Ham this summer. But in the end, it never looked likely. The 24-year-old move to Arsenal for a whopping £105m instead.

According to journalist Ben Jacobs for Fabrizio Romano’s Daily Briefing though, Liverpool did hold some kind of interest in Rice. They never acted on it though, for a couple of reasons.

The Reds were reportedly always focused on trying to get Jude Bellingham instead. It’s claimed that they valued Rice lower than Bellingham and weren’t willing to put that kind of money towards signing the West Ham skipper.

After missing out on Bellingham, Liverpool reportedly focused on ‘avoiding investing time on transfers with low success rate and high cost.’ After deducing that Rice only wanted to join Arsenal, the England man fell into this category.

As Liverpool now search for the perfect Fabinho replacement, Rice would have come in handy. But at the price he’s gone for, it was a non-starter.

Liverpool never in Rice race

There were some outlandish claims ahead of the summer that Liverpool should try and sign both Rice and Bellingham.

Although that would have been a huge boost to the Reds’ squad, it would have cost them over £200m. It was never feasible. Pundit Pat Nevin told Off The Ball back in May that Rice would have been ‘perfect’ for Jurgen Klopp’s squad. But Bellingham was always the one that Liverpool wanted.

Similar to Rice though, it soon became clear that a move to Anfield was not top of the 20-year-old’s list.

Consequently, we think the Reds were right to move on. It’s no use fighting for expensive players who don’t even want to join in the first place. You’re better off focusing on those who’ll do everything to get the move.

Dominik Szoboszlai, for example, reportedly wouldn’t even entertain Newcastle’s questions about his availability.

And although Alexis Mac Allister was rumoured to only want to join a Champions League club, he was sold on the project at Liverpool, too.

These two may not have the star power of a Rice or a Bellingham, but they’ll fight tooth and nail for Liverpool. With a couple of additions perhaps still to come, we don’t think we’ll end up regretting not getting pulled into a fistfight with Arsenal here.