Liverpool have missed out on some exciting transfer targets over the years.
Indeed, Liverpool tried to sign Martin Zubimendi last summer, while Liverpool bid for Moises Caicedo two years ago.
Speaking on the High Performance Podcast, Ian Graham has been discussing some of Liverpool’s missed transfer opportunities over the years.
Graham was a key part in the Reds’ recruitment department for a long time, and he oversaw some crucial deals during his time at Anfield.
Interestingly, according to Graham, Liverpool missed out on a high-profile striker due to the fact Brendan Rodgers was so set on signing Christian Benteke.
Liverpool missed out on Diego Costa
According to Graham, Liverpool were in for Diego Costa at one point.
However, according to Graham, Liverpool had to go for Christian Benteke instead as Brendan Rodgers insisted he was the only striker for Liverpool at that time.
Tim Sherwood didn’t want to sell Benteke to Liverpool, but a deal was done and Costa eventually ended up at Chelsea instead before making a £60m move back to Atletico Madrid.
“But I think he could never trust in the process that we put in place. So he could only trust his own eyes and his view, not the extra information that was being brought. So he was, Benteke was his favourite forward, and we failed to sign Diego Costa because of this argument that went on of, you know, if we’re going to sign a forward, it has to be Benteke,” Graham said.
Diego Costa compared to Christian Benteke
Liverpool don’t often get things wrong in the transfer market, but it’s fair to say the Reds misfired here.
Indeed, Costa was just becoming a world-class striker around this period, while Benteke never quite hit those heights for Liverpool.
The two players’ stats around this period show exactly how much Liverpool got this wrong.
| Diego Costa at Chelsea | Christian Benteke at Liverpool | |
| 120 | Games | 42 |
| 59 | Goals | 10 |
| 21 | Assists | 4 |
| 0.49 | Goals per game | 0.24 |
| 2 | League titles | 0 |
Brendan Rodgers usually did have a good eye for talent – he signed the likes of Philippe Coutinho and Daniel Sturridge for Liverpool, but, on this occasion, he missed the mark when making Benteke his priority striker signing ahead of Costa.
Who knows? Perhaps Rodgers wouldn’t have been sacked by Liverpool so soon if he had Diego Costa leading his line.
