It’s safe to say that the last few years have been an absolute rollercoaster of emotions for Liverpool fans.
The supporters of this massive, prestigious club have experienced so many happy times throughout the recent years, witnessing exceptional talents such as Luis Suarez, seeing their side come so close to Premier League glory a couple of seasons ago and now realising that the future is bright under the charismatic Jurgen Klopp.
However, there are clearly areas within the squad that need to be strengthened and these areas are ones that could have been so easily fixed with talented players that were available for a move away from their former club.
A whole host of exciting players have slipped between the fingers of the Reds in recent years and have moved on to win domestic trophies and catch the eye of many – posing the question as to why Liverpool didn’t move in for them.
Here are ten players that Liverpool could have signed, but failed to move quickly enough.
Alexis Sanchez
Liverpool were said to be very close to signing Sanchez, as they went head to head with fellow Premier League rivals Arsenal for his signature, but Arsene Wenger moved quickly to sign the Chilean superstar when he turned down a move to Merseyside.
Henrikh Mkhitaryan
Before his move to Borussia Dortmund, Mkhitaryan was heavily linked with a move to Liverpool and had they have signed him, their creative attacking force would have been scarily potent.
Mario Gotze
In 2011, it was revealed that former manager and club legend Kenny Dalglish had the choice between talented youngster Gotze and Jordan Henderson – no prizes for guessing who he chose, as Liverpool missed out on one of the world’s most coveted starlets.
Dani Alves
Before Alves’ glory days in a Barcelona shirt, Liverpool had the chance to sign the Brazilian.
In the summer of 2006, the Reds had an opportunity to acquire the right-back for a mere fee of £8m but lived to regret not pursuing Alves as he went on to be one of the greatest right-backs in world football and he is still going strong.
Loic Remy
Liverpool were all set to sign Remy in 2014 before they backed out of the deal due to a failed medical.
Although their reluctance to go ahead and sign the Frenchman was understandable, as time goes on, it looks as though Remy is the kind of striker that the Reds now need.
David Silva
Back in 2009, in the good old days under Rafael Benitez, Liverpool were close to securing a deal for playmaker David Silva.
However, the deal failed to go through and Manchester City consequently pounced on the former Valencia midfielder in the same summer.
Diego Costa
Liverpool lodged a £21m bid for the controversial Spanish international but Chelsea came in with a higher offer to lure Atletico Madrid’s prized asset to Stamford Bridge.
Willian
It was a three-horse-race between Chelsea, Liverpool and Tottenham to capture Anzhi’s talented Brazilian winger, but after an attempt to sign Willian, Chelsea managed to pip Liverpool to the deal and swipe him from Tottenham’s grasp.
Juan Mata
In the summer of 2011, Liverpool were mulling over a £20m bid for the Valencia midfielder.
However, Kenny Dalglish opted to sign Stewart Downing for a similar amount instead.
You’d be inclined to say that King Kenny made a blunder with that one!
Cristiano Ronaldo
To finish it off, we have Cristiano Ronaldo. The Portuguese superstar was a target for Liverpool back in 2003, as Gerard Houllier weighed up a move for the 18-year-old, but felt as though he may not have been able to handle the physicality of the Premier League, as well as being reluctant to pay his wages.
Manchester United came in and signed Ronaldo for £12.24m – the rest is history.