Brendan Rodgers has spoken of his disappointment at missing out on signing “fantastic” Dele Alli during his time at Liverpool before the talented English midfielder joined Tottenham. “Hopefully come the summer time I can get back into it”, he said.
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“So, when the owners are wanting you to go down that route and there is no other options, then of course you give it a go”.
Sterling left in a high profile £49m deal for Man City last summer and Rodgers insisted his relationship with the player was not behind him leaving, as had been implied by Sterling’s agent Aidy Ward, and claimed Sterling made contact with him when he was sacked as Reds manager in October. I spent a couple of hours in a hotel room with him and he wanted to come to Liverpool.
“[I would go] wherever as long as it’s exciting and the club want to work with me and work together”.
“But, for me, I think wherever you go you have to go to win. It doesn’t matter where you go, but you have to have a chance of winning, that is something that drives you”.
Rodgers had always previously stated he did have the final say on incoming deals during his tenure, but on Sky’s Goals on Sunday programme he sought to clarify matters.
Rodgers also revealed that he could never have said “no” to Liverpool when they offered him the job in 2012 because of the size of the club. When a club like Liverpool comes in, it is very hard to say no.
“The model of the club is slightly different. Do we go with one striker or go with someone who is talented and see if it can work?”
“But we didn’t get Alexis Sanchez”.
One thing that will frustrate Liverpool fans to hear and could have been a main reason for his ultimate failure was the club’s failure to secure the best players willing to move to England.
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Rodgers, refreshingly honest and characteristically insightful, hinted that he did not necessarily want some of the players Liverpool signed after that.
