Liverpool failed with Rodrygo transfer pursuit despite Jurgen Klopp's personal visit

Now more than ever, Jurgen Klopp can sit back in his office and marvel at the level of talent in his outstanding Liverpool squad.

If the fact they're still on for an unprecedented quadruple in the first week of May isn't enough evidence, then maybe their eye-watering tally of 139 goals this season across four competitions will hammer the point home. But despite an attack which includes Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane and Luis Diaz to name but a few, Klopp will soon encounter one electric forward that got away.

On the night that could turn the quadruple dream into reality, the Reds face Real Madrid at the Stade de France in Paris on Saturday, May 28 for a mouth-watering Champions League final. There, the Liverpool manager will watch from the dugout as Los Blancos hero Rodrygo and his teammates bid to win a record 14th European Cup - but it won't be the first he's seen the 21-year-old up close and personal.

According to the Brazilian's agent, Nick Arcuri, Klopp was keen to sign Rodrygo when he was only 16 and still plying his trade in his homeland with Santos. The Reds boss was so fascinated, he reportedly made a trip to Sao Paulo to get a better idea of his transfer target's pedigree.

"When Rodrygo went to sign his first professional contract with Santos, aged 16, a Liverpool director called me saying that Klopp already knew the player, had seen the material, had already come to see Rodrygo personally," Arcuri explained to Canal do Nicola. "He had gone on YouTube, searched 'talents from Brazil', Rodrygo had appeared and he was very young.

"He came to Brazil and liked him. They contacted me, the Liverpool director wanted him to be his first signing, Rodrygo. I went to England, sat in London, Liverpool have an office in