‘Fantastic’ PL star wanted to join Liverpool in 2022, Klopp says missing out was his ‘biggest mistake’

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Liverpool were close to rectifying Jurgen Klopp’s ‘biggest mistake’ in the transfer market in 2022.

In the midst of missing out on the quadruple by a whisker, Liverpool’s attack was firing on all cylinders in the middle of last year. But according to a report from The Telegraph yesterday, the Reds still wanted to bolster their options.

With Sadio Mane on the verge of leaving, it’s claimed that Liverpool were ‘sniffing around’ Tottenham Hotspur forward Son Heung-Min.

As Spurs looked set to miss out on qualifying for the Champions League, Son was reportedly ‘considering his options.’

One of those options appears to have been Liverpool, with the South Korean said to have been interested in the move to Anfield.

However, owing to an end-of-season collapse from Arsenal, Tottenham ended up finishing in fourth place and securing Champions League football. Had they not have managed to do so, it’s claimed that Son would ‘likely’ have left the club. What could have been.

Klopp reveals Son regret

It isn’t hard to imagine how good Son would have been at Liverpool. In 2022 the 31-year-old was coming off the back of a Premier League Golden Boot-winning campaign.

Getting him to jump ship from Spurs to join the Reds would have been an almighty coup. His arrival would have been the perfect remedy for Mane’s exit.

Son wouldn’t have been a typical kind of Liverpool signing, though. Then aged 30 and already a bona fide star, the former Bayer Leverkusen winger would actually be almost the complete opposite of the Reds’ usual recruitment strategy.

But as it turns out, signing Son represents something of a career ambition for Klopp.

Not long after this little saga – in November 2022 – Jurgen spoke to Korean outlet KBS News about the Tottenham forward. His words show exactly why the boss was willing to throw normal procedure out of the window had Son been available.

“One of the biggest mistakes in my life is not signing Son Heung-Min,” Klopp said. “He is fantastic, a symbol of Korean football and one of the best strikers in the world.”

Listening to that, you can absolutely believe that Liverpool would have been in for Son.

Looking at the Reds’ forward line now, it is hard to see where the South Korea international would have fitted in. But given Jurgen’s appreciation for him, he’d have found a way. It’s never going to happen now, but this could have been great.