Nigeria winger Moses Simon has reflected on his aborted move to Liverpool in 2018, with the player having questioned why a £10 million switch fell through.
Simon was firmly on Liverpool’s radar as they looked to bolster Jurgen Klopp‘s attack ahead of the 2018/19 campaign, with a £10 million offer mooted.
That pursuit was abandoned and Xherdan Shaqiri instead made the move to Anfield to support the likes of Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane in the wide areas.
In an interview with Urban Dwell Sport, Simon has now expressed his regret at failing to complete a transfer to Liverpool from KAA Gent.
“I was supposed to go to Liverpool. It didn’t work,” he said, per Soccernet.ng.
“In my head, I was like, ‘is it the agent or the club? I don’t want to play’.
“So I was putting it in my head: ‘Whether I play or I don’t play, I don’t care’.
“I thought if I don’t play, the club will find a way quickly to sell me. The club bought me for €1 million, but after one year, they wanted €25 million.”
Gent's Moses Simon pictured during the Jupiler Pro League match between SV Zulte Waregem and KAA Gent, in Waregem, Sunday 03 December 2017, on day 18 of the Jupiler Pro League, the Belgian soccer championship season 2017-2018. BELGA PHOTO JASPER JACOBS
Having seen interest from Liverpool, Tottenham, Brighton, Lyon, Fulham and Hull fail to develop into a move between 2016 and 2018, Simon’s career instead took him to Spain.
It has led to a more modest pathway which has seen him play for Levante, Nantes and now Paris FC, with his only experience of the Champions League coming while still at Gent in 2015/16.
Simon now acknowledges that effectively downing tools and sacrificing his form in a bid to engineer a move was a mistake.
“If I was an experienced player [at the time], I would have pushed for everything because the more you play, the more market value you have,” he continued.
“So every young player out there, whether there’s a rumour or no rumour, just give everything.
“A transfer can come, and you go. If it doesn’t come, continue because your club is paying you. This is the contract you signed.”