Peruvian defender Carlos Zambrano has revealed he rejected a transfer approach from Liverpool during his time at Eintracht Frankfurt.
The 30-year-old currently plies his trade in Ukraine with Dynamo Kiev, having left the Bundesliga club in 2016 to join Russian outfit Rubin Kazan. Despite the fact he arrived at Olimpiyskiy Stadium in the summer of 2018, Zambrano is yet to make his debut for Dynamo, with the South American spending last season on loan at Basel.
Conflicts in Ukraine have prevented Zambrano from making an appearance for Kiev, but he has nonetheless been a regular for his national side, for whom he has won 49 caps, including a start in the 2019 Copa America final.
The centre-back has been a reliable performer for the Peruvians for over a decade, with his displays for club and country catching the eye of Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp.
Zambrano said of the German and his team (as quoted by the Daily Star): "It has always been a dream to play in Liverpool or Sevilla, and I had offers from both.
"Sevilla could not happen because Frankfurt did not want to. I was in a good moment, and I was fine there, and it was not done.
"A week before the pre-season, Liverpool had injuries to all their central defenders. Jurgen Klopp was already in the club, and they asked me [to join them] at that time, but a week before I had promised my coach that I would stay [at Frankfurt] and fight."
Though Zambrano didn't give a date for when the interaction happened, there's reason to believe it took place ahead of the 2016/17 campaign.
During pre-season that year, the Reds brought in centre-back pairing Joel Matip and Ragnar Klavan, with Klopp eager to add experience and muscle to his backline.
The Estonian has since departed, Cagliari paying £2m to sign him in 2018. His Cameroonian counterpart, however, remains an integral part of the Liverpool team, looking increasingly confident alongside Virgil van Dijk until an untimely injury led to a spell on the sidelines.
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Source : 90min