Liverpool’s decision to walk away from a move for Rayan Cherki last summer may well go down as one of the club’s biggest ever transfer mistakes.
As the deal to sign Florian Wirtz dragged on, Arne Slot met with Cherki to discuss his potential arrival at Anfield.
Liverpool ultimately got their man, allowing Manchester City to sign the Frenchman for only £34m. Since then, Cherki has gone on to become one of the most eye-catching players of the Premier League season, and was the difference-maker as City thumped Chelsea 3-0 on Sunday.
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Rio Ngumoha celebrates after scoring for Liverpool during their Premier League match against Fulham at Anfield (Credit: Getty Images/ANDY BUCHANAN /AFP).
Photo Credit: Getty Images/Andy Buchanan/AFP
Cherki mistake gets worse with every passing week
This is not a case of being Wirtz against Cherki. Although it is clear that the City man has had a far better season than Liverpool’s No. 7, there remains a feeling that Wirtz will come good.
Instead, Liverpool should have ensured that they had both players in the bag. For such a comparatively low transfer fee, the Reds surely could have used Cherki this season.
With Mohamed Salah and Cody Gakpo terribly out of form and Alexander Isak injured for much of the campaign, the 22-year-old would have been a huge help.
There is obviously a case to be made that Cherki would not look nearly as good as he does for City in this Liverpool team, but he would have provided an injection of invention and creativity at the very least.
Rayan Cherki runs with the ball during Manchester City's Premier League match against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.
Photo by Alex Livesey – Danehouse/Getty Images
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Pep Guardiola hailed Cherki as ‘an extraordinary talent‘ after he laid on two assists for his team on Sunday, one of them a delightful piece of play to set up another former Reds target, Marc Guehi.
Plenty has been said and written about Liverpool’s failure to land Guehi, but with Slot reportedly going as far as interrupting his holiday to meet Cherki, losing out on such an attainable gem will surely go down as an even bigger fumble in time.
Liverpool looking into Cherki alternative
Ahead of the new summer window, there have even been suggestions that Liverpool could be looking at signing a player in a similar profile to Cherki.
Although they are not identical by any means, reports have claimed that the Reds are in the mix for Morgan Rogers.
Who REALLY got the better deal here? Liverpool or City?
Should we have signed Cherki instead? 😬
Florian Wirtz applauds fans after Liverpool's UEFA Champions League victory over Eintracht Frankfurt at Deutsche Bank Park (Credit: Getty Images/Christian Kaspar-Bartke).
Rayan Cherki celebrates after scoring for Manchester City during their Premier League match at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium (Credit: Getty Images/Rob Newell - CameraSport).
Photo Credit: Getty Images/Christian Kaspar-Bartke/Rob Newell – CaemeraSport
Liverpool look poised to switch to a 4-2-2-2 system next season, and a player such as Cherki or Rogers would be ideal as a roving No. 10 alongside Wirtz behind Isak and Ekitike.
If this has always been the plan for Slot, then it feels like he and Richard Hughes made an even worse error in passing up on Cherki.
With the France international drifting left and Wirtz drifting right, it could have been a perfect set-up at Liverpool for years to come.
A player like Rogers arriving could still provide that, but the Reds had a brilliant chance to set themselves up last summer and blew it completely.
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