Chelsea will have regrets about missing out on several players, and you can add Liverpool’s Alisson to that list.
Chelsea were interested in signing Alisson from AS Roma following Thibaut Courtois’ move to Real Madrid seven years ago.
The Blues, though, ended up with Kepa Arrizabalaga, while Alisson went on to join their Premier League rivals Liverpool instead.
There, Alisson has become one of the best goalkeepers in the world, and in 2019 he explained his decision to join the Reds. While Alisson has been a success at Liverpool, Kepa has failed at Chelsea, though the Spaniard has managed to revive his career at Bournemouth.
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Alisson put off by Chelsea’s manager situation and lack of Champions League football
Chelsea’s summer in 2018 started in a very messy fashion. While the Blues were able to end the 2017/18 season on a positive note after winning the FA Cup final against Manchester United, Antonio Conte was eventually sacked by the club before first-choice goalkeeper Courtois departed for Real Madrid.
Add in their failure to qualify for the Champions League, and Chelsea were not in a great position during the transfer window.
Ultimately, changing manager and being without Champions League football did them no favours in their pursuit of Alisson.
In fact, according to the Brazilian himself, he rejected Chelsea for Liverpool because of the above, among other reasons.
Speaking to FourFourTwo in 2019, Alisson said: “I chose Liverpool for the same reasons I went to Roma when I first left Brazil — I thought this would be the best move for my career.
“Chelsea were changing their manager and not playing in the Champions League. I’ve also always admired Liverpool’s history. This is a club with five European Cups in their trophy cabinet. I really wanted to be part of that history.”
Enzo Maresca would kill to have a goalkeeper like Alisson right now, especially after his incredible performance against Paris Saint-Germain last week.
His main two goalkeepers this season, Robert Sanchez and Filip Jorgensen, have both failed to impress in the Premier League. Mark Schwarzer recently questioned Sanchez after one decision he made in Chelsea’s 1-0 win against Leicester City over the weekend.
Thibaut Courtois never wanted to leave Chelsea
Ironically, the only goalkeeper in the world who is probably better than Alisson is Courtois. It is such a shame that the Blues lost him, especially considering that he never actually wanted to leave Stamford Bridge.
According to his agent Christophe Henrotay, the Belgian was happy being at Chelsea but needed to return to Madrid to be closer to his family.
When Henrotay spoke about Courtois’ move in 2018, he said: “If the family were in London it would have been totally different. He would have stayed, there is no reason to leave a club like Chelsea, he could have won trophies.”
While Edouard Mendy had a very good spell in goal, no one has really replaced Courtois at Chelsea. Alisson was the perfect heir, but it does not look like he was ready to embrace the Chelsea chaos, choosing the stability of Liverpool instead.
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