Surprise confirmation: Liverpool were rejected by World Cup star

Surprise confirmation: Liverpool were rejected by World Cup star Liverpool were rejected by a World Cup star in the summer. It's a surprise confirmation of a rumour and another who got away. Liverpool had a very interesting summer transfer window as they looked to fix a lot of problems that haunted them in 2025/26. The massive one was on the wing. The Reds’ struggled enormously to produce from wide areas last season and then their most productive winger, Mohamed Salah, left the club. That had everyone scrambling for a sure-fire win on the wing and Yan Diomande was the pick. Diomande, however, didn’t pick Liverpool. The club had to pivot to other signings and they were ultimately Victor Munoz and Bradley Barcola. Though, they weren’t the only options, just the ones Liverpool ended up signing. Liverpool were in for Crysencio Summerville Crysencio Summerville was one of the more interesting wingers on the market this summer. He'd been linked with Liverpool fairly heavily in the past, back when he was a young player at Leeds United. Relegation with West Ham United meant he was essentially guaranteed to move, though few could really put a price on him. A relegated World Cup star whose numbers aren't phenomenal but the raw talent is there? It's all over the place. And that was made even more difficult by interest from Al-Hilal. The Saudi Pro League side would eventually pay €70m for Summerville - a figure far beyond what anyone else hoped to pay. But it does seem that Liverpool had a sniff around. Summerville's personal trainer, Ivandro Monteiro, someone very close to the player, claims the Reds were one of several sides who registered interest. “He called me at one point and said, 'You're not going to believe this.' He said that a lot of clubs were interested," said Monteiro to ESPN . "Real Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain, AS Roma, Liverpool, Manchester United... all clubs that had spoken to him. I told him, 'Wait a minute. See what's coming. You never know.'." "A few days later, a new phone call followed. This time it was about Al-Hilal. He said, 'You have to hear, this is crazy.' Then he talked about Al-Hilal and what they would pay for him. And he would earn a lot more there too. I immediately said, 'Boy, pack your suitcase and go. Don't think.'.” And that was that. Liverpool were never seriously going to get this deal done once Al-Hilal got involved as Summerville, while a player who interested them, was never at the top of the shortlist. But if things had gone another way? Who knows.