Porto insiders reveal what really happened with Liverpool’s late move to sign Alan Varela

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Liverpool now look extremely unlikely to sort out their glaring issue in defensive midfield before Friday’s transfer deadline.

The Reds headed into the window in need of bolstering Arne Slot’s options in midfield and upgrading upon Wataru Endo.

However, after a move for Martin Zubimendi hit the rocks earlier this month, Liverpool instead chose to call it quits. There was no alternative to Zubimendi.

While that looked like a disappointing decision on the face of it, there were late suggestions that the Reds had been in talks to sign Alan Varela from Porto ahead of deadline day.

Those claims were very quickly shot down, with Varela looking set to stay put in Portugal. Now, with the window having just a few hours to run, sources at Porto have seemingly cleared up what went on.

What happened between Liverpool and Alan Varela

After Zubimendi decided that he’d rather stay at Real Sociedad this summer after all, Liverpool were told that Varela could be the perfect signing instead.

The 23-year-old is combative, aggressive and technically sound all at the same time. Being young and with potential to hit a much higher ceiling makes Varela an attractive option.

Late on Thursday evening it had looked a possibility that Liverpool had heeded those calls to take a concrete approach for the Argentine.

But with no further movement taking place, Spanish journalist Eduardo Burgos has taken to X to explain things from Porto’s viewpoint.

READ MORE: All the Liverpool transfer deadline day latest

“Porto confirm they have not received any offer from Liverpool for Alan Varela,” Burgos reports.

““It is a false rumor,” sources say.”

“As we mentioned earlier, the Reds have only made an enquiry into his situation. The Argentine will not leave Portugal this market.

Will Liverpool come back in for Alan Varela?

On paper, Varela would look like exactly the kind of signing Liverpool are looking for in the holding midfield role.

However, there will have been a reason the Reds decided to hold fire on him.

Whether it was something from Slot’s point of view as a head coach, or something on the recruitment side, Liverpool will have weighed things up carefully.

The fact that they’ve obviously thought about signing Varela may lead to some confidence that Liverpool could come back in for him in the future.

But as the Reds showed with Andre Trindade last year, once they’ve considered and then moved on from a target, Liverpool don’t tend to come back in for a second go.