Liverpool’s former director of research, Ian Graham, has revealed how the club nearly opted against signing Alisson in 2018.
The Brazilian joined from Roma after the Reds’ Champions League final defeat to Real Madrid, which was due in part to two huge goalkeeping errors from Loris Karius. That summer, a new keeper was identified as a crucial addition, and within two years, Liverpool won the Premier League and Champions League.
Alisson played a huge role in those successes and continues to impress for Arne Slot’s side, with many believing he is the best goalkeeper in the league. But Liverpool came incredibly close to not signing him from Roma eight years ago and nearly made a move for Atletico Madrid’s Jan Oblak instead.
“Virgil [van Dijk] arriving in the January was a big part of that. And Alisson completed it. So he was a world-class goalkeeper,” Graham told the High Performance Podcast.
“There were two options, him or Oblak, who was at Atletico at the time, still is. And what was the difference between the two? I think they were two of the top five shot stoppers in the world.
“So you get in a world-class shot stopper with either of them. We rated Oblak a little bit better for shot-stopping. But then Atletico played a very defensive game.
“The sorts of chances that he was having to save were less similar to a team that played more openly.
(Image: 2025 Getty Images)
“Roma were an open team when we signed Alisson from them. They’re both world-class at it, both a huge upgrade on our current goalkeepers.”
Oblak, like Alisson, is one of the globe’s top goalkeepers and is now closing in on 500 appearances for Atletico. The Slovenian has been voted in the Champions League Squad of the Season on three separate occasions.
As for Graham, he left Liverpool in 2023, having headed the research department for a decade. Implementing his analytics-based policies was key to much of Jurgen Klopp’s success at Anfield, particularly with Graham pushing for the signings of Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane.
“The owners were happy to spend but they wanted evidence that money would lead to better performances,” Graham said in an interview with Sky Sports last year.
“So, the first rule was if we are going to spend on a player, they have to play, they have to be on the pitch in order for them to make a difference.
“The way that young players improve is through relevant minutes playing against decent quality opposition.
“And so you want to be able to be guaranteeing at least 1500 minutes to your young players every season. That is all about squad management.”
