Piotr Zielinski confirms Jurgen Klopp wanted to sign him at Liverpool

Piotr Zielinski has revealed how close he came to joining Liverpool earlier in his career.

The Reds tried to sign him in 2016. The club had him flown in a private jet to meet with former Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp at his house.

Zielinski was 22 at the time and had emerged as one of the most promising young midfielders in Europe after impressing during back-to-back seasons at Empoli, where he was on loan from Udinese.

Piotr Zielinski confirms Jurgen Klopp wanted to sign him

He has now revealed the details of his proposed move to the Merseyside giants and why it did not materialise.

In an interview with Foot Truck, he said:

“Jurgen Klopp invited me to his house. Liverpool sent a private jet to pick me up. Klopp told me that for him I am a mix between (Cesc) Fabregas and (Ilkay) Gundogan. I didn’t understand anything, but then my agent, who spoke German, told me everything.”

“When we were leaving I managed to take a photo with Klopp who was at the door and said goodbye. They were offering €18.5m, but Udinese wanted something more. However, Liverpool couldn’t cross a certain limit with me because I wasn’t a top player yet. The other side of the coin is that I didn’t feel like one either.”