The summer transfer saga involving Willian in 2013 was one of the weirdest in recent memory.
He was definitely signing for Liverpool, then suddenly having a medical with Spurs, before eventually putting pen to paper with Chelsea.
He’s gone on to have a successful Premier League career, winning the title twice, first under Jose Mourinho and then under Antonio Conte, scoring 31 goals in total.
Willian’s a very hard worker, has technical skills in abundance and is someone who’d have benefited Liverpool heavily, but it wasn’t meant to be.
Willian told FourFourTwo: “The situation was… complicated. Well, not complicated actually. It was more… unusual.
“When I came to London, there were other clubs interested in my football: Liverpool, Tottenham as well as Chelsea.
“I was just waiting for the negotiations to be completed. My agent was talking to the clubs. I was just waiting for the decision.
“In the end, I ended up going to Chelsea. When I understood they were really keen to sign me, I said my decision was made. I wanted to go to Chelsea.”
Not signing Willian in 2013 didn’t really matter as our attack included a fit Daniel Sturridge, Raheem Sterling and Luis Suarez – and we tore teams apart – only missing out on the title by the skin of our teeth.
Willian does however seem like the kind of player Jurgen Klopp would really enjoy. He can play in multiple positions across the frontline and puts in a serious shift off the ball, while being quick to use it when his team’s in possession.
Still, in Sadio Mane we have a faster, more clinical version of Willian already.