Liverpool ‘considered’ summer transfer of for Ligue 1 star with tie to key Reds player

Liverpool were faced with only three available central midfielders going into the final days of the transfer window and finally made the decision to bolster their ranks after Jordan Henderson was the latest to be sidelined.

The Reds confirmed the loan signing of Arthur Melo from Juventus on deadline day, however he certainly wasn’t the only option they had considered.

According to journalist Fabrizio Romano, Liverpool had also targeted Thiago Alcantara’s brother, Rafinha.

On Romano’s YouTube channel, he said: “Liverpool explored many possibilities.

“I can tell you that one of the names they had on the list was Rafinha from Paris Saint-Germain. But in the end, he joined Al-Arabi, a Qatari club.

“So he decided to go for a different kind of experience but he was one of the players on the list at Liverpool. He was dreaming of the possibility of playing with his brother, Thiago Alcantara. In the end, it didn’t happen.”

Thiago and Rafinha had spent their younger years in Barcelona’s academy together and were both promoted to the senior team at a similar time, before the Liverpool midfielder joined Bayern Munich in 2013.

Rafinha was sent out on loan to Celta Vigo and Inter Milan before signing for PSG two years ago, where he only managed 36 appearances in all competitions.

While the idea of reuniting with his brother was probably very appealing to the 29-year-old, he opted to make the move to Qatar and Arthur instead took his place at Anfield.

Rafinha and Arthur weren’t the only Brazilians that Liverpool had considered last week, and were also heavily linked with Douglas Luiz, who ended up remaining at Aston Villa after his move to Arsenal collapsed on deadline day.