Real Madrid star Rodrygo’s former boss reveals he could have joined Liverpool
Liverpool were turned down with a bid for Real Madrid star Rodrygo while he was still at Santos, his former manager has revealed.
The 18-year-old arrived at the Bernabeu for a reported £40m from his home country this summer and has made an impressive start to life in Spain.
Rodrygo hit the headlines with a hat-trick in Real Madrid’s 6-0 demolition of Galatasaray in the Champions League on Wednesday.
He made his first two La Liga starts under Zinedine Zidane in the club’s last two games and already has two league goals in four appearances this season in addition to his European haul.
Hopes are high that the teenage winger has a bright future ahead of him but his old boss, former Manchester City midfielder Elano, revealed that he could have ended up at Anfield if Liverpool had been willing to fork out little extra cash.
"There was strong interest from Liverpool for the kid when he was in the youth teams and they wanted him, but the offer was low," he told ESPN, via the Mirror.
"Then the offer arrived from Real Madrid. I had a chat with the club and I told them the kid was worth gambling on and that I would like to work with him.
"He already had this ability at a young age.
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"There are very few players that are like that when they're so young. He's already mature and has a personality to his game.”
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Alasdair Mackenzie is a freelance journalist based in Rome, and a FourFourTwo contributor since 2015. When not pulling on the FFT shirt, he can be found at Reuters, The Times and the i. An Italophile since growing up on a diet of Football Italia on Channel 4, he now counts himself among thousands of fans sharing a passion for Ross County and Lazio.