Alex Teixeira really, really, really wanted to sign for Liverpool in January.
The Brazilian attacker liked various Instagram photos of himself dubbed in Liverpool kit, gave exclusive interviews announcing his desire to make the switch and did everything in his power to secure a move.
SEE MORE:
Grujic brilliantly explains Klopp’s first phone call, German tells wonderkid where he’ll play
Liverpool expected XI v Augsburg – Jurgen Klopp goes strong in Europe
We actually felt sorry for him, as his club Shakhtar wouldn’t accept anything less than £38m – a fee Liverpool thought was unrealistic for an uncapped 26-year-old.
Our sympathy slightly waned however when he decided to make the mega-bucks switch to China just days after the transfer window closed, instead of waiting until the summer to sign for us instead.
His friend Josef de Souza, who plays for Fenerbahce, claims though that Teixeira still holds out faint hope of a future move, and that he’s only gone to China for the money!
“I spoke to Alex, and really, he said that things were well advanced [To go to Liverpool],” de Souza told Brazilian TV channel Esporte Interativo, cited by the Express.
“And then I talked to him again, when he signed for the club from China.
“And Alex, I can say that he was totally willing to go to the Premier League. And he still keeps that dream, from what he told me, in his heart.
“Of course he wanted to play for Liverpool, play in the Premier League. But it happened, football has these things.
“I think it was good for him, good for his family. Our career is very short, and the more you can combine one thing with another: play in a good league and earn money, that’s great.
“But if you can’t put the two together, it is obvious that filling your pockets will speak much louder.”
And Teixeira will certainly be filling his pockets in China, if not fulfilling his footballing ambitions of earning a call-up for the Brazilian national side.
The CSL doesn’t kick off for a few days yet, so nobody’s seen Teixeira in action for Jiangsu Suning since he made the bizarre switch.
He’ll likely be a cut above the vast majority of his team-mates and opponents, but it’s unlikely to help him improve or more importantly – see international recognition follow.