Liverpool had a number of goalkeeping problems before signing Alisson Becker.
Indeed, between Loris Karius, Simon Mignolet and an ageing Pepe Reina, in the early-to-mid 2010s, Liverpool’s number ones were unreliable at best.
Now, Liverpool have the best goalkeeper in the world according to some, while Alisson has been the best player in the Premier League this season according to Peter Reid.
However, before Alisson came to Liverpool, the Reds looked at a few different options.
Speaking on the High Performance Podcast, former Liverpool recruitment chief, Ian Graham, has been discussing the signing of Alisson, and he says that the Reds very nearly went for another option around this time.
Liverpool nearly signed Jan Oblak
Graham spoke about bringing Alisson to Anfield.
The transfer guru says that Jan Oblak was Liverpool’s other option around this time, even noting that the Reds saw him as a better shot stopper.
However, the Merseyside club eventually went for Alisson due to his ability with the ball at his feet.
“And Virgil arriving in the January was a big part of that. And Alisson completed it. So he was a world-class goalkeeper,” Graham said.
There were two options, him or Oblak, who was at Atletico at the time, still is. And what was the difference between the two? They were among, 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. Like Roma were an open team when we signed Alisson from them. And so the question is, you know, the most important thing, they’re both world-class at it, both a huge upgrade on our current goalkeepers.”
Other goalkeepers Liverpool almost signed
Oblak is a top-class goalkeeper, and he very nearly became a Liverpool player.
Interestingly, the Atletico Madrid number one isn’t the only stopper to have had a close call with the Reds.
Edwin van der Sar nearly joined Liverpool back in 1999.
Meanwhile, Manuel Neuer almost joined Liverpool before he got his career-defining move to Bayern Munich as well.
In a less high-profile move, Neto almost signed for Liverpool at one point too before carving out a respectable career with the likes of Juventus and Barcelona.
Liverpool have been close to signing a number of top goalies over the years, and, luckily, they’ve ended up with the best of the bunch in the shape of Alisson.
