10 players Liverpool missed out on – and who they signed instead

Liverpool’s current hierarchy are known to drive a hard bargain when it comes to signing new players – and supporters are sometimes left disappointed when transfers fall through.

Aurelien Tchouameni is the latest high-profile transfer target that Liverpool are reportedly set to miss out on, with the France international set to sign for Real Madrid instead.

Their overall strategy has worked out pretty well, though, with the Reds winning the Champions League in 2019 and a first English top-flight title in three decades in 2020 before completing the set under Jurgen Klopp by lifting both the League Cup and FA Cup in 2022.

And it is not only under FSG’s ownership that Liverpool have missed out on high-profile names and been forced to settle for next-best options.

We’ve looked back at 10 deals the Reds came incredibly close to sealing in the Premier League era to see what happened next.

Former Liverpool boss Roy Evans wanted to sign a 29-year-old Sheringham from Tottenham in 1995 to add experience to a young squad featuring the likes of Robbie Fowler, Steve McManaman and Jamie Redknapp.

“I had a chance to bring Teddy in, but the club policy on transfers was no players over 28,” Evans told The Anfield Wrap in 2011. “He went to play until he was 38, or was it 48!

“But we needed that experience. We had John Barnes, a bit of Rushie, but we needed a little bit more with those younger players.

“Teddy was a great player and knew when to party and when to play and he could have told those kids ‘This is the right time, this is the wrong time’ – that sort of help for Barnesy and Rushie might have gone down well.”

Sheringham, who actually went on to play until the age of 42, instead joined Manchester United, winning the Treble in 1999