Moises Caicedo and Romeo Lavia turned Liverpool down because they preferred to stay in the South of England.
Caicedo and Lavia were the subjects of an enthralling transfer battle between Liverpool and Chelsea in August. In the end, there was a clear winner, with both players choosing blue over red.
In the weeks since, the reasons for this have been speculated upon far and wide. And weighing in while speaking to Tribal Football, former Liverpool winger Jermaine Pennant says the location of the two clubs may have played a big part.
“These things [location of club/re-locating] do often play a part in a player’s move,” says the pundit. “And also being at Brighton he [Caicedo] was probably settled down south in London, does he want to move north? All those things come into play.
“And I think it might’ve been the same with Lavia. I think he would’ve played more with Liverpool, but for himself London is probably more pleasing to go to.”
Some will perhaps snarl at Pennant’s suggestion of players picking clubs based on where they’d like to live. But it seems relatively obvious that they will and do do this.
Of course, it may not be the main reason. In these two player’s cases though, we think the former Liverpool wide man has a good point.
Both are young and already based in the South. When picking between two really big clubs, it’s these little details that can make all the difference.
For Caicedo, life in that area of the country is all he’s known of England. Lavia meanwhile was in Manchester for a couple of years, and perhaps decided that he prefers to be on the coast.
And although none of the big Northern powerhouse clubs would readily admit it, London is a trump card that clubs down South can play.
Not that Liverpool will be losing too much sleep over that. It’s still early days since both of these transfers of course, but Caicedo has looked out of his depth at Chelsea so far, while Lavia is yet to make the matchday squad.
With Wataru Endo and Ryan Gravenberch brought in since the mid-August saga, Liverpool turned to two players who really do want to be at the club and in the city.
