French midfielder who 'met Steven Gerrard' rejected Liverpool despite Philippe Coutinho 'promise'

French midfielder Maxime Lopez has confirmed that he was offered a contract by Liverpool when he was just 16 years old but turned it down as he wasn't ready to leave home.

Lopez was pursued by the Reds when he broke into the Marseille first team as teenager but instead stayed with the inaugural Champions League winners for four seasons in Ligue 1, making 113 appearances and scoring four goals.

Now 24, he currently plies his trade in Serie A with Italian side Sassuolo, but he could easily have ended up at Anfield or another giant of European football that he supported as a boy.

Speaking to Gazetta dello Sport about his career, Lopez said: “I am making my way. I said no to Liverpool. They offered me the contract, but I was 16 and didn’t feel like leaving home, so I stayed at Marseille.

"Years later, it seemed that Barcelona wanted to take me. I am a Barca fan, it would have been a dream, but it went differently."

Lopez has previously spoken about advances from the Reds, when he was still at Marseille, stating that Liverpool "did everything to get me to sign"

In a live Twitch stream with social media broadcaster Warkik, he said: "I hesitated a lot but today, I no longer regret, I made the right choice."

And in an interview with the French newspaper L'Equipe, Lopez said: “They said to me: `In five years you get Coutinho’s place.'

“They approached me in a good way. I even met Steven Gerrard at the stadium after a game.

“I wanted to go there, but also to stay at OM. To go like that, at this age and even with your family, is very hard.

"I had noticed that they had thirty young professional players, not to mention the incumbents. You really have to be mentally prepared.”

Lopez made 13 appearances for the French U21 side, but is