Liverpool were interested in signing Rafinha before moving to Arthur Melo
According to reputed journalist Fabrizio Romano on his YouTube channel (h/t Liverpool Echo), Liverpool were interested in signing Rafinha before moving for Juventus’ Arthur Melo.
Liverpool started the season with injuries to many key players and this derailed our start to the campaign, with a dismal nine points from the first six games.
The midfield was looking particularly weak following injuries to Thiago Alcantara, Alex Oxlade Chamberlain, Naby Keita and recently Jordan Henderson. Klopp acknowledged the need for reinforcement and was active in the final stages of the transfer window.
One of the targets they were looking at was Thiago’s brother, Rafinha, who was on loan at Real Sociedad from parent club Paris Saint-Germain and was out of favour in both clubs and looking for a new challenge. Romano said:
“Liverpool explored many possibilities, I can tell you one of the names they had on the list was Rafinha from PSG.”
When Liverpool’s approach was made, it is said that Rafinha was very excited and keen to work with his brother and join Klopp’s Reds.
Rafinha was tipped to be one of the brightest prospects coming out of Barcelona youth academy but ultimately could not make a place for himself in the starting lineup. A similar situation happened with his next big move to Paris Saint-Germain.
With him out of favour at his parent and loan club, a reunion with his brother and a chance to play for one of the dominant teams in Europe was certainly an exciting prospect for the Brazilian.
However, Liverpool opted to go for another Brazilian midfielder in Arthur Melo on a loan deal with an option to buy from Juventus.
Out of the two, Arthur is arguably more suited to the present requirements of the team as he is a natural central midfielder and with the limited liability of a loan move, it is a financially sound deal as well.
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Who knows, Rafinha could have been a better signing- but he isn’t the player we brought it so there is no point in wondering what could have been. Rafinha, meanwhile, pursued a different experience and joined Saudi side Al-Arabi FC on a two-year contract.
