Tried to put Liverpool off signing my star striker – but were stunned by what they bid

Roberto Firmino may be the centre-forward most synonymous with Jurgen Klopp’s time at Liverpool, but the German’s reign began and ended with a more traditional number nine.

The Brazilian is an Anfield legend, having won every major honor during his eight years at the club. Returning 111 goals and 72 assists from 362 appearances, he reinvented himself as a high-impact new fake as the central cog between Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane in the Reds’ famous attacking triumvirate.

As he got older, he was no longer a guaranteed starter. Diogo Jota emerged as a much more prolific option, albeit less reliable in terms of availability due to injury, before Klopp brought in Darwin Nunez from Benfica in the summer of 2022 in a deal worth up to to a record £85 million.

Although he is quick and capable of playing everywhere, profile-wise the Uruguayan is a more traditional number nine. Which is somewhat ironic considering Klopp dropped such a player shortly after taking charge at Anfield.

Firmino’s transition into a false nine only began after Klopp’s appointment in October 2015, having initially failed to impress under predecessor Brendan Rodgers. With the deadly Daniel Sturridge currently injury-prone, the German turned to Firmino after deciding that Liverpool’s traditional number nine at the time did not suit his preferred style.

That striker was Christian Benteke. While the Reds’ recruitment team wanted Firmino previously, Rodgers wanted the Belgian. FSG ended up signing both of them.

Benteke enjoyed a bright start to his Liverpool career, scoring the winner on his home debut against AFC Bournemouth and scoring twice in his first six games after establishing himself as first choice under Rodgers. But then an untimely injury struck and Klopp was in the dugout on his return.

Since then, the target has been more of a squad option than first-choice striker. Although he scored a further 10 goals for the Reds in his first season at the club, registering five assists, only 20 of his 42 appearances came from the start.

And after starting all six of the opening games under Rodgers, he has only managed back-to-back starts three times under Klopp. On the bench for both the League Cup and Europa League finals, he would only make two Premier League debuts in 2016.

Consequently, it was no surprise when Liverpool moved Benteke after just one season. In August 2016, he was sold to Crystal Palace in a deal worth up to £32 million. Remarkably, the Reds had managed to recoup almost their entire outlay on the now unwanted forward.

Rodgers had been determined to sign Benteke, given that he regularly tormented Liverpool during his time with Aston Villa – turning in five goals in just six meetings. And after scoring 49 goals in 101 games across three seasons for the Villans, he has established himself as one of the most lethal strikers in the Premier League.

Top scorer in all three seasons at Villa Park, it was his goals that kept Villa in the Premier League. Finishing 15th in both 2012/13 and 2013/14, five points clear of the drop zone, the West Midlanders then finished 17th in 2014/15 as they avoided relegation by just three points.

Consequently, it was no surprise to see Benteke move on, and no surprise to see Villa relegated from the Premier League in that first season without their main man. But one thing that came as a surprise was the fee Liverpool paid for the striker – at least to those at Villa Park, that is.

The Reds paid £32.5million to bring the forward to Anfield and former Villa manager Tim Sherwood has revealed the club’s stunned reaction to Liverpool’s transfer bid.

“At the end of the season, Brendan called me and said he was going to sign Christian,” Sherwood recalled. Undr The Cosh Podcast. “I tried my best to put it off.

“I remember calling the president and telling him Christian was leaving. And he said, “Are you kidding me?”

“It wasn’t like, ‘You’re kidding, we don’t want to lose him.’ It was like, ‘Are you kidding me, nobody pays for this?'”

Before Jack Grealish’s £100m move to Manchester City in the summer of 2021, Benteke’s £32.5m move to Liverpool made him the biggest exit transfer in Aston Villa’s history. Although that was little consolation for the club as they suffered relegation.

Meanwhile, after losing six games in a row, including a nine-match winless streak that left a Benteke-less Villa 19th in the table, Sherwood was sacked on 25 October 2015 – just three weeks after Rodgers’ sacking from Liverpool.

Given how quickly the striker found himself unheralded at Anfield, it was a deal that failed to work out for either party.