Piotr Zielinski has revealed how close he was to joining Liverpool early in his career.
The Reds tried to sign him in 2016. The club flew him on a private jet to meet former Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp at his home.
Zielinski was 22 at the time and had become one of Europe’s most promising young midfielders after impressing in back-to-back seasons at Empoli, where he was on loan from Udinese.
Piotr Zielinski confirms Jurgen Klopp wanted to sign him
Now he has revealed the details of his proposed move to the Merseyside giants and why it failed to materialise.
In an interview with Truck on footsaid:
“Jurgen Klopp invited me to his house. Liverpool sent a private jet to pick me up. Klopp told me that for him I’m a mix between (Cesc) Fabregas and (Ilkay) Gundogan. I didn’t understand anything, but then my agent, who spoke German, explained everything to me.”
“When we were leaving I managed to take a picture with Klopp who was at the door and he said goodbye. They offered 18.5 million euros, but Udinese wanted something more. However, Liverpool could not cross a certain limit with me because I was not yet a top player. The other side of the coin is that I didn’t feel like it either.”
Liverpool signed Gini Wijnaldum
He ended up joining Napoli in August 2016, where he spent 8 years, making 364 appearances for them, scoring 51 and assisting 46 in all competitions.
Meanwhile, Liverpool ended up signing Gini Wijnaldum that summer from Newcastle United for £23m and he ended up becoming a key part of Jurgen Klopp’s side.
The Dutch midfielder played 237 games for the club, scoring 22 and assisting 16 others. He quickly became a fan favorite at the club and is fondly remembered for his contribution to Liverpool’s Champions League win against Barcelona, ​​where he came off the bench to score two goals in 2 minutes to help the Reds beat the Spanish giants 4-0.
Despite being adored, Liverpool fans were left disappointed when he criticized the fans, saying that he didn’t feel loved at the club when talking about his decision to move to PSG.
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