Liverpool were on the verge of signing Ismaila Sarr in the summer before Watford’s financial demands forced them to pull out, according to the player’s agent.
Sarr impressed in his first season in the Premier League, scoring five and assisting four for a relegated Watford side.
Most memorably, he bagged a brace as the Hornets ended Liverpool’s hopes of invincibility at Vicarage Road in February.
But no suitable offers arrived in the summer and Sarr dropped down to the Championship.
Liverpool chose instead to sign Diogo Jota for a fee of £40million, only 10 percent of which had to be paid this year.
“With Liverpool, we were at the stage of signing the contract to bind the Reds to Ismaila Sarr,” agent Thierno Seydi told Pan African Football.
“But in the end, the English club were unable to put 40m euros on the table to finalise the deal.”
Sarr’s move had looked so likely that living arrangements were already under consideration, Seydi added.
“Everything was set, the monthly salary and the length of the deal. I even asked Sadio Mane to find him an apartment,” he said.
22-year-old winger Sarr has scored five goals in the second tier this season, with Watford currently in the play-off places.
Jota, meanwhile, netted nine times in his first 17 Liverpool appearances before an injury lay-off.
