Juventus star rejects Liverpool transfer as agent reveals they ‘said no’ to Arne Slot
Juventus goalkeeper Michele Di Gregorio turned down a move to Premier League leaders Liverpool in the summer transfer window, according to his agent.
The Reds have made a brilliant start to the new Premier League season with Arne Slot’s side currently top of the Premier League table, four points ahead of second-placed Chelsea with a game in hand.
Slot could have hardly wished for a better start to life at Liverpool after leaving Feyenoord to replace legendary manager Jurgen Klopp at the end of last season.
Liverpool didn’t invest much money into the playing squad over the summer transfer window with Federico Chiesa their only purchase for the current campaign.
Giorgi Mamardashvili, who is reportedly out until ‘end of the year’, was the other player they spent money on but they loaned the Georgia international back to Valencia for the season.
And it appears Liverpool were also looking at other goalkeepers before they settled buying Mamardashvili with Di Gregorio’s agent Carlo Alberto Belloni telling Italian media that they “said no to Liverpool” in the summer.
Di Gregorio signed for Juventus instead from Monza on a one-year loan deal with an obligation to buy the Italian at the end of the current season.
When asked by Tuttosport whether Di Gregorio is now ‘indigestible to English teams’, Belloni replied: “[Laughs] Surely Manchester City fans will remember his saves for a long time. In the summer, however, we said no to Liverpool to marry the Juventus project.”
On Di Gregorio’s growth in recent years, Belloni added: “I’m really happy that Michele has demonstrated all his value at international level too. Some matches are special and his performance against Manchester City is one to remember.
“If I think back to when he played in Serie C, I get emotional. He earned everything with talent and hard work: I’m proud of him.”
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Caoimhin Kelleher has done a great job covering for the injured Alisson in recent weeks but former Liverpool defender Stephen Warnock understands why the Republic of Ireland international is likely to leave in the summer.
Warnock told BetBrain: “I don’t think Caoimhin Kelleher will leave Liverpool in January. Giorgi Mamardashvili only joins the club in summer, so they will need two options between now and the end of the season. Arne Slot needs to make a decision in the summer however and it’ll be interesting to see what his long-term plan for the two of them is.
“I personally think Kelleher wants to leave the club. He’s someone who wants to play week in, week out and he’s good enough to be doing that. I have to agree with him in that regard – he’s been exceptional for Liverpool and his form has been quite brilliant – apart from that one mistake against Newcastle. I know there was a lot of chat about him moving last summer, but the right bid didn’t come in, so let’s see what happens between now and the start of next season.”
