Liverpool have been at the centre of countless high-profile transfer sagas through the years, with the most recent being Alexander Isak's club-record £125million move from Newcastle last summer. While such deals bring excitement, there are times when a transfer isn't signed despite lengthy negotiations and years of reported interest. Here are five transfer targets the Reds have been linked with over the years and the reasons the once-expected deals never came to fruition.
Nabil Fekir
Perhaps the most notable failed transfer in recent Liverpool history, the collapse of Nabil Fekir's move to Anfield in 2018 led to allegations of lying and family controversy. The Frenchman had completed a medical ahead of his £53million move from Lyon and agreed personal terms before the Reds withdrew their interest. The attacking midfielder had even taken promotional photos with the club, who claimed their decision to pull out of the deal was due to a knee cartilage problem.
Fekir slammed the Reds' reasoning as a lie and dismissed claims from his then-agent, Jean-Pierre Bernes, who alleged that the Frenchman's brother-in-law attempted to secure a cut from the transfer. "Lots of lies were told, and they affected me," Fekir told L'Equipe in 2019. "Especially those told about my family. It hurt them and me. Especially when you know that what's being told is false."
Gareth Barry
The Reds' chase for Gareth Barry first came in the summer of 2008. A key cog of Aston Villa's midfield, Rafael Benitez had earmarked the Englishman to replace Xabi Alonso, who had come off an injury-interrupted season in the 2007/08 campaign. However, the Reds failed to meet Villa's asking price of £18m for their captain, resulting in Barry's stay in the Midlands.
Liverpool re-entered the race to sign Barry a year later, with their continued chase of the midfielder resulting in Alonso completing a move to Real Madrid. It ended up being a double blow for Benitez as Barry opted to join Manchester City instead. Previously speaking about his decision to reject Liverpool, Barry told Birmingham Live’s Claret & Blue podcast: "Something appealed to me more about Man City than Liverpool at the time. Liverpool had won the Champions League not so long ago and Man City hadn’t won a trophy for many years, but I went with that route."
Arda Turan
Arda Turan was frequently linked with a move to Liverpool in a six-year span between 2009 and 2015. The reports began during his time at Galatasaray, but it was Atletico Madrid who won the race for his signature in 2011. His successful four-year spell in Madrid, which included their La Liga title win in 2014, didn't stop rumours of his potential arrival in Merseyside, according to AS.
The report claims that the Turkish star grew up watching Liverpool and his father was a fan of the club. Despite his family's reported fandom of the Reds, Turan never played for the club and instead joined Barcelona in 2015, before retiring in 2022 with Galatasaray.
Simao Sabrosa
Simao Sabrosa, a key figure of Portuguese football in the 2000s, was inches away from joining the Reds in the summer of 2005 before Benfica backed out of the deal. A reported £10m deal had been agreed between the two parties, with Simao even departing Portugal's training camp to pass a medical.
The 46-year-old opened up about the failed transfer in 2022, when speaking to Liverpoolfc.com. He recounted: "At that time I'm in the national team, three or four days until the end [of the window]. I received a call at like five o'clock in the morning, 'You need to come, we go to Liverpool.' I go to [Luiz Felipe] Scolari and the director of the national team to give me permission to go out. When I go to the office of my agent, in that moment the president of Benfica called and said, 'We don't have a deal, you don't have permission to fly, so you need to stay.'"
Julian Draxler
The former Germany international is another player well-known to Liverpool fans. The 32-year-old, who currently plays for Qatari side Al-Ahli, rose to prominence with boyhood club Schalke in 2011, which is when his long-term links to Liverpool began. Then-Reds boss Brendan Rodgers reportedly flew to the Veltins-Arena to watch Draxler in action against Basel in the Champions League.
A move never materialised as the attacking midfielder ended up joining fellow Bundesliga side Wolfsburg in 2015. A move to Paris Saint-Germain came two years later, but it wasn't without Liverpool registering their interest in him once again, this time under Jurgen Klopp. The German boss was keen to add Draxler to his team, but he opted for a move to France.
He later admitted he wonders what may have happened if he had decided to play in the Premier League. "When I was still very young at Schalke and extended my contract, I could have gone to Arsenal," he told BILD, as quoted by Sport Witness. "Honestly, I’d be interested to see what would have become of me if I had learned from Arsene Wenger so early. I’ve also wondered what would have happened if I hadn’t gone from Wolfsburg to Paris, but to Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool. I had that opportunity, too. Nevertheless, I’m happy. I’m at peace with my decisions."
