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49-Cap Peruvian star claims he rejected the chance to sign for Liverpool

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By Pranav Ravindrannair

Carlos Zambrano turned down the chance to sign for Liverpool

Peruvian defender Carlos Zambrano has revealed that he turned down an opportunity to sign for Liverpool. (h/t Mirror)

The 30-year-old who now plays for Dynamo Kyiv, had spent eight seasons playing in the Bundesliga for Schalke, St. Pauli, and Eintracht Frankfurt.

The Peruvian was a key player for Frankfurt, for whom he made 101 appearances. (h/t Whoscored)

A strong tackler, the defender was courted by Jurgen Klopp, who saw the defender as a solution to his defensive crisis. But the player chose to stay at Frankfurt as he had promised his coach that he would stay and fight.

“A week before the pre-season, Liverpool had injuries to all their central defenders.”

“Jurgen Klopp was already in the club and they asked me at that time, but a week before I had promised my coach that I stayed in the club and fight.”

Carlos Zambrano

Spanish side Sevilla were also keen on the player, who describes it as a dream to play for either side but he chose to stay put at Frankfurt as he had promised his coach that he would stay and fight.

“It has always been a dream to play in Liverpool or Sevilla, and I had offers from both,” 

It is likely that Zambrano is talking about the 2016 summer window when Klopp returned to the Bundesliga to sign two defenders.

Joel Matip and Ragnar Klavan joined the German manager from Schalke and Augsburg respectively.

Matip has turned out to be a brilliant buy while Klavan was more of a surprise. The first Estonian to play for the Reds, it’s fair to say he did his job well.

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Now at the age of 30, it is fair to say Zambrano’s chance to play for Liverpool has passed. Zambrano has played for the Peruvian national team 49 times and scored 4 goals.