Liverpool shattered the world record transfer fee for a goalkeeper in 2018 – but not everyone at the club knew about the £65m transfer involving Alisson Becker
Loris Karius, Adrian, Harvey Davies and Caoimhin Kelleher during a Liverpool training session back in the summer of 2021
Loris Karius, Adrian, Harvey Davies and Caoimhin Kelleher during a Liverpool training session back in the summer of 2021(Image: (John Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images))
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Loris Karius has opened up on how he only became aware Liverpool were signing Alisson Becker when he saw it in the news. The goalkeeper joined the Reds from AS Roma for £65m during the 2018 summer transfer window.
Jurgen Klopp decided to renew his efforts to sign the Brazil international amid continued concern over the form of Karius. Just months before Alisson arrived, Karius had endured a night to forget as he made two crucial mistakes which contributed to Real Madrid's 3-1 Champions League final victory.
The first of these saw Madrid take the lead after his catastrophic attempt at rolling the ball to a defender resulted in Karim Benzema deflecting the ball home. The goalkeeper then fumbled Gareth Bale's long-range effort into his own net to restore Real's two-goal advantage.
Karius didn't play another competitive game for Liverpool after the final, during which it was later revealed he was concussed, and had loan spells with Besiktas and Union Berlin before leaving Anfield at the end of his contract in the summer of 2022.
And opening up on how he found out Alisson was set to join the Reds, Karius revealed to the Independent: "It took me a bit off guard. I just read it in the news. No one told me before that they were making the signing or spoke with me, but I guess that's football.
"When I asked why no one was informing me, they said they cannot let 30 players know every time we sign a player in their position.
"There's no bad blood or anything. Alisson has done a fantastic job up to today, he's a great goalkeeper. But if they planned on this from the beginning, maybe someone could have like put me on notice a little earlier."
And although the goalkeeper has since managed to rebuild his career at FC Schalke 04, he admits that after being cast out into the wilderness when his Liverpool contract expired, he considered never returning to football. He said: "It was not the worst six months.
Loris Karius
Loris Karius during his time with Liverpool(Image: Getty Images)
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"I still enjoyed myself. I spent a lot of time with my family, I did a lot of travelling, a lot of things that normally you can't do when you're in your everyday routine."
Karius is vying for a Bundesliga return with Schalke, who were relegated in 2023. "It would mean a lot to everyone – not just to me – at this club that is supporting every day through really bad times and through good times," he admitted.
"To see all these people, the joy that they have right now watching us play is really special. I'm trying to give them as much as possible special moments in the second half of the season.
"We'll see where it takes us, but ultimately that's a goal I have. It would be a really nice story."