Steven Gerrard has bemoaned the fact that Liverpool missed out on signing Marc Guehi and Antoine Semenyo, saying “it hurts” to see them at Manchester City.
It has been a season to forget for so many reasons at Anfield, from bad performances and results to some new signings struggling to make an impact, as well as seasoned long-term Reds players being below par.
Guehi and Semenyo were two players who Liverpool were constantly linked with last summer, but in the end, both chose to move to City instead.
In fact, a £35m deal with Guehi was agreed on deadline day, only for Crystal Palace to pull the plug at the eleventh hour, while Semenyo made the move to the Etihad from Bournemouth during the January transfer window.
Speaking on TNT Sports [via Caught Offside], Gerrard made it clear that he is frustrated with Liverpool’s recruitment team for missed out on the pair:
“They should be playing for Liverpool. We were linked with two of those players and that would have made a big difference to Liverpool. It hurts to see them shining for City when you know they were within reach. They have that Premier League grit and quality that would have addressed our issues in the winter.”
Two costly missed pieces of transfer business for Liverpool
Gerrard’s frustration is understandable, especially because Guehi and Semenyo have made such an impact at City, improving them as a team as they hunt down Arsenal in the Premier League title race, also winning the EFL Cup and reaching the FA Cup final.
The former is such a calm presence and will surely start for England at the 2026 World Cup, and he would have been an upgrade on Ibrahima Konate at centre-back, judging by the Frenchman’s form this season.
Meanwhile, Semenyo would have added the pace and power that Mohamed Salah and Cody Gakpo haven’t been able to in 2025/26, with only Erling Haaland (24) and Igor Thiago (21) scoring more than his tally of 15 league goals, too.
Admittedly, the duo wouldn’t have completely turned Liverpool’s fortunes around – there have been too many issues for that – but it is hard to imagine them not being stronger with them both in the squad, and for years to come as well.