A personal phone call convinced a promising young talent to snub Real Madrid in favour of Liverpool
TORONTO, CANADA - JULY 21: Suso #30 of Liverpool motions during their match against Toronto FC during the World Football Challenge friendly match on July 21, 2012 at Rogers Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images)
Liverpool hijacked Suso's move to Real Madrid in 2010(Image: Tom Szczerbowski, Getty Images)
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Liverpool beat Real Madrid to the signing of exciting young winger Suso in stunning fashion 16 years ago. The Spaniard had already agreed personal terms with Los Blancos but a phone call from then Reds manager Rafael Benitez changed everything.
Now, almost two decades later, the roles have reversed, with Real Madrid set to get the better of Liverpool by striking a deal to land Yan Diomande. The La Liga giants agreed personal terms with the 19-year-old RB Leipzig winger on the weekend.
Diomande had been Liverpool’s top transfer target for much of this summer, with the Reds having an initial £85million bid rejected for the Ivory Coast international last month. That fell short of Leipzig’s valuation and PSG soon moved ahead in the race for his signature, given the player’s reported preference to join the Parisians.
However, PSG also failed to meet the asking price, allowing Real Madrid to hijack the deal with a reported offer of over £100m. PSG have refused to enter a bidding war after having a final bid rejected for the teenager on Sunday, while Liverpool have moved on to other targets, such as PSG’s Bradley Barcola, seemingly ending the tug of war for the player.
Diomande may have opted for the Bernabeu over Merseyside, but Suso back in 2010 saw Anfield as the better destination for his development. The Reds completed the signing back in the summer of 2010 from his hometown club Cadiz.
Suso, then merely a teenager, initially joined on loan until he was old enough to obtain a work permit to play professionally. He later explained that Benitez, Liverpool's manager at the time, persuaded him to make the move to Anfield that summer, despite the player being on the verge of joining the La Liga giants after they had tabled a substantial offer for him.
Yan Diomande (RB Leipzig) controls the ball during match day 33 1.Bundesliga, RB Leipzig and St. Pauli, Red Bull Arena, Leipzig, Germany on May 09 2026. (Photo by Ulrik Pedersen/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Real Madrid look set to sign Liverpool target Yan Diomande(Image: NurPhoto, NurPhoto via Getty Images)
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Benitez, himself Spanish, sat down with the player and his family to sell Liverpool's vision, while also making it clear just how highly he rated the young Spaniard. He succeeded in convincing Suso to turn his back on Madrid in favour of Liverpool, though Benitez would leave Anfield by mutual consent that very same summer on June 3, meaning Suso never actually featured under the manager who signed him.
Suso later told Cope: "I had agreed on a contract with Real Madrid, and the transfer was basically done, but then Rafael Benitez called me and told me he had a lot of confidence in me and that I should go to Liverpool. I'm glad I made this decision. I love this club and it is the best for me."
Suso put pen to paper on his first professional contract on his 17th birthday in November 2010. He went on to develop through Liverpool's youth ranks and reserves before earning his breakthrough under Brendan Rodgers during the 2012/13 campaign.
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The winger made his debut in September 2012 during a Europa League triumph over Young Boys. He made 20 appearances that season but was sent back to Spain for a season-long loan with La Liga outfit Almeria ahead of the 2013/14 campaign, having been left out of the first team following the arrivals of Daniel Sturridge and Philippe Coutinho.
The subsequent campaign saw him manage just one outing in the first half of the season and he ultimately secured a permanent transfer to AC Milan in January 2015, where he stayed until 2020, clocking up 153 appearances and scoring 23 times. He now represents boyhood club Cadiz once more and has five caps for Spain, which came between 2017 and 2019.