Liverpool have a fantastic recent history of signing Brazilian players who have gone on to write huge success stories at Anfield.
All three of Philippe Coutinho, Fabinho and Roberto Firmino left legacies with the Reds before moving on in the past six or seven years.
The one who remains – Alisson Becker – has had perhaps the biggest impact of all and is certain to go down as a Liverpool legend.
And with Alisson looking likely to stay at Liverpool amid interest from Saudi Arabia this summer, there is a chance that the 32-year-old is joined by a new countryman at Anfield.
After years of being linked with Liverpool, there are reports that Rodrygo Goes is finally ready to leave Real Madrid.
Liverpool tried to sign Rodrygo before he even joined Real, with the Reds agreeing a fee with Santos for the then 16-year-old in 2017. However, with a deal on the verge of being completed, a former Man City player stepped in to ruin things for the Reds.
Elano ruined Liverpool’s deal for Rodrygo Goes
As Rodrygo himself admitted in an interview with The Guardian as recently as 2024, he was so close to agreeing a move to Liverpool as young player at Santos.
“We didn’t close the deal because I didn’t want to,” said the now 24-year-old. “The pathway they promised me would also have been very good for my career. I was going to finish my studies in England to prepare for European football.”
Rodrygo claims that the move broke down as he wanted to fulfil his dream of making an impact at Santos before moving onto Europe. But according to former Man City maestro Elano Blumer, there was another reason for Liverpool missing out.
The Brazilian, who was working as a coach for Santos at the time, told The Guardian in 2022 that he threatened to quit if Rodrygo was sold to Liverpool for just £2.5m.
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“‘You can’t sell him. If you sell him, I’m out,’” Elano recounted. “‘What is €3m nowadays? Nothing!’
“He [the Santos president] wanted to sell Rodrygo but I insisted and he got my point and stopped the negotiations for him.”
Elano was fired just months later
Elano’s intervention may or may not have been the real reason Liverpool didn’t get their hands on Rodrygo as a youngster.
However, if it was indeed the former City man who stopped the wheels from turning, then Liverpool will have been disappointed to see how this story ended. By his own admission, Elano was fired just months after helping to block the Rodrygo transfer.
“Everyone won, except me because I was fired months later by the new president, Jose Carlos Peres,” he said.
Having arrived at City in 2007, a while before the club really started to challenge at the top of the Premier League, Elano never hurt Liverpool too much on the pitch during his playing days.
But just as City were preparing to pip the Reds to two titles in 2019 and 2022, the Brazilian schemer ultimately may have helped his old club get over the line in those battles. Had Liverpool been able to call on Rodrygo, things may have had a different ending.
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