Alexander Doni’s time at Liverpool wasn’t great. A free agent at the time, Doni had joined us from Roma (h/t Liverpool Echo) and played just four games for us in 2012.
However, the goalkeeper did have a role to play in helping us capture Alisson from the Serie A side earlier in the summer.
Liverpool Echo reports that Doni kept in touch with John Achterberg, our goalkeeping coach. Doni had a short spell at Botafogo-SP and during that time, a young Brazilian keeper had caught his attention.
The former Red spoke with Achterberg in 2013 and said (h/t Liverpool Echo):
“John, you need to keep an eye on this kid at Internacional.
“He’s going to be special.”
The player in question was Alisson, who was just 20 during the time, and was handed his senior debut in February 2013.
The report claimed that Alisson had been on Liverpool’s radar since then and our goalkeeping coach had watched the player for hours in the Brazilian league. The report further added that Achterberg recommended the keeper to our recruitment staff as a future Liverpool player.
The 25-year-old finally made the switch to Anfield in the summer and has been quite impressive since then.
The former Roma man is also known for his distribution skills and that has already been on show in our games so far.
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Doni might not have done a lot during his short spell at Liverpool but his role in getting Alisson to the club should not be overlooked.
