Liverpool were a ‘whisker away’ from signing Man Utd midfielder; Klopp rejected him for better alternative

Liverpool were reportedly ‘hours away’ from beating Manchester United to Sofyan Amrabat, but Jurgen Klopp decided to sign Ryan Gravenberch instead. 

The Morocco international is poised to finally make his full Man Utd debut when Erik ten Hag’s side face Crystal Palace in the Carabao Cup on Tuesday.

Ten Hag will hope that Amrabat can help turn his team’s lacklustre start to the season around. Man Utd have picked up just nine points from six Premier League matches so far – and their midfield has been one of their biggest issues.

Mason Mount is yet to make any real impact and has missed the Red Devil’s last four games due to injury. Casemiro has also uncharacteristically struggled for form so far this term.

Ten Hag has been forced to rely upon the exit-linked Scott McTominay recently, as well as youngster Hannibal Mejbri, so Amrabat coming into the fold will be a big boost for the manager.

Liverpool were linked with the Amrabat throughout the summer window, as Klopp aimed to completely revamp his midfield.

However, until now, it wasn’t clear just how close the Merseyside club were to signing the highly-rated Moroccan.

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Klopp rejected Amrabat chance for Gravenberch

According to the Daily Mail, Klopp made a ‘personal phone call’ to Amrabat in an attempt to convince the former Fiorentina star to become part of his midfield rebuild following the departures of Jordan Henderson, Fabinho, James Milner, Naby Keita and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.

Klopp is said to have come a ‘whisker away’ from beating Man Utd to Amrabat, until a late, unexpected delay rompted the Reds to sign Ryan Gravenberch from Bayern Munich instead.

The report claims that talks between Liverpool and Amrabat’s entourage were put on hold for 24 hours, and it was during this period that the Reds explore the possibility of signing Gravenberch. He was deemed to be a better fit for Klopp’s project given he is six years younger.

Ultimately, Man Utd paid an £8.5m loan fee to sign Amrabat from Fiorentina, and will look to make the move permanent next summer. They have a buy option of £21.4m included in the deal.

It will be interesting to see if Liverpool live to regret missing out on Amrabat. In fairness, though, the midfield additions of Wataru Endo, Domink Szoboszlai, Alexis Mac Allister and Gravenberch have already made a positive impact on Liverpool this season.

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