Liverpool wanted to bring new Barcelona forward Joao Felix in as a replacement for Darwin Nunez this summer.
Felix has just joined Barca on-loan from Atletico Madrid. That followed a summer of rumours, where he had even been touted as a potential replacement for Mohamed Salah.
However, Mundo Deportivo actually claim that it was another Liverpool forward that Felix was slated to succeed at Anfield. They report that the Reds had approached the 23-year-old as a swap for Nunez.
Manchester United, Al Hilal and – slightly bizarrely – Aston Villa were said to be pushing to get Felix, too. But the Portugal international reportedly only had eyes for Barca.
As a result, Felix is said to have turned down all of the above teams, Liverpool included, to complete a ‘dream’ move to Barca.
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Felix as a replacement for Nunez would make a lot more sense than Felix as a replacement for Salah.
But, nevertheless, we don’t really buy that Liverpool ever wanted the former Chelsea loanee as a replacement for anyone.
He’s a good player – one that Jurgen Klopp even called ‘outstanding’ previously [Liverpool ECHO]. The truth is that the Reds currently have better options, though.
After an underwhelming stay at Atletico, and a disappointing time at Chelsea, Felix’s stock is quite low.
Nunez on the other hand had an excellent summer, and has started off the season in very promising form indeed. Just a year into his stay at Anfield, there’s no way Liverpool are looking to move him out of the way already.
The Uruguayan does have a fight on his hands to get in the Reds XI just now. But even if he’s not in the line-up, he still has his part to play. As the 24-year-old showed against Newcastle last week, he can do just as much damage from the bench.
So, as much as it’s of course possible that this turn of events did happen exactly as Mundo Deportivo say, we think it’s more a case of a Spanish publication bigging up Barca’s newest recruit.