Joe Gomez has revealed he came close to signing for RB Leipzig prior to joining Liverpool during the summer of 2015.
The Reds snapped up the English defender from Charlton Athletic for a £3.5million fee, beating off competition from a number of clubs to get a deal over the line.
Gomez has gone on to have an important role in some of the club's biggest achievements in recent years, notably forming a formidable partnership with Virgil van Dijk during the title-winning 2019/20 season.
Things could well have been different for the 26-year-old, however, having revealed he had an offer from Leipzig to weigh up in the months before making his Liverpool move.
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“In the January [of 2015], I went to Red Bull Leipzig," the centre-back told the Total Media podcast. "I had only played half a season, they were still in the Bundesliga 2. In hindsight, they are a great club but I wasn’t ready. I went with my mum, my dad and my missus wasn’t feeling it either. I knew I wasn’t ready, but the opportunity to go came up.
“If you play in Germany [today], the likelihood is you’re coming back. At the time, for me, there weren’t many examples of that yet. Maybe today I would be like, ‘wow, this is the way’.”
After passing up on this opportunity, there was further interest from clubs in the summer as Gomez pondered his next move. The Englishman of course opted for Anfield as his next destination, having been left with a good feeling about the club after meeting with then manager Brendan Rodgers.
"In the summer, there was Liverpool, Bournemouth and Villa, those were the
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