Liverpool sealed a last-minute loan deal with Juventus on deadline day, but if one teammate is to be believed, Arthur may not have been their only target.
With their injury crisis deepening in the final days of August, the Reds moved to bring in another body before the 11 p.m. deadline on Sept. 1.
Eventually a deal was struck with Juventus that would see Brazilian midfielder Arthur join on a season-long loan, with a negotiated purchase option worth £32.3 million.
Whether Liverpool will trigger that clause next summer remains to be seen, as the 26-year-old is currently playing for the under-21s as he works to improve his fitness.
But the fact that the club were pursuing other candidates at the same time, as well as the nature of the temporary deal, suggests they are not yet fully convinced.
Indeed, Arthur’s loan-out partner at Juventus, Denis Zakaria, who joined Chelsea in the final hours of the transfer window, revealed interest from Liverpool ahead of his move to Stamford Bridge.
“I heard that from my agent,” he told Swiss newspaper Blick when asked about Anfield’s interest.
“But in the end it was Chelsea, and I think I will be happier in England than in Turin.”
Zakaria has yet to appear for Chelsea, who have changed managers in the few weeks he has been in England, but he was on the bench for their first two Champions League games.
Elsewhere in his interview, he admitted that he “didn’t know a move to Chelsea was possible until six hours before the end of the transfer window”, showing the desperate nature of deadline day.
Whether Zakaria would have been a better option for Liverpool than Arthur is purely subjective at this stage, as both battle it out at Juventus.
But the Swiss international has been linked with the Reds on a number of occasions in the past, including last winter before a £4m transfer from Borussia Monchengladbach.
Even before that, he was touted as a target during his time at Young Boys in his native Swiss Super League, but for one reason or another it never materialized.
