Newcastle captain Jamaal Lascelles was of interest to Liverpool before the Reds smashed their transfer record to sign Virgil van Dijk during the 2018 January window.
Before Van Dijk signed from Southampton, the Saints publicly declared their intention to keep the centre-half, prompting Jurgen Klopp to go in search of other targets.
As a result, according to Goal, Lascelles was placed on Liverpool's 'B-list' of targets alongside Dortmund's Manuel Akanji and Real Madrid's Eder Militao, formerly of Porto.
The 'B-listers' were young players deemed to have the potential to develop into top-class talents in the next two or three years.
Those on Liverpool's 'A-list' were players club scouts felt could make an immediate impact on Klopp’s side and dislodge the first-choice partnership of Joel Matip and Dejan Lovren. They were known as the 'slam-dunks' by Jurgen Klopp and included Van Dijk, Aymeric Laporte, Jerome Boateng and Kalidou Koulibaly.
However, alternative targets were not required as Liverpool eventually brought in their priority target for £75m, a move that, despite being highly scrutinised at the time (mainly because of the fee), may end up being their most important of the Premier League era.
Luckily for Newcastle fans, this meant that Lascelles remained on Tyneside and the ex-Nottingham Forest starlet has been a consistent performer for the Magpies since they returned to the Premier League in 2017.
At Anfield on Saturday, Lascelles put in a performance that showed why the Liverpool scouts were keen on him a couple of years ago. But, his solid display at the back wasn't enough to stop this Liverpool side from firing, with the Reds running out 3-1 winners.
Source :
90min
