Jamie Carragher reckons Liverpool’s choice to sign Mohamed Salah instead of Julian Brandt in 2017 shows that managers shouldn’t always get their way. Jürgen Klopp had first set his sights on his compatriot, but ended up signing Salah for $45m (£35m/€41m).
The Reds boss initially wanted to bring the then-Bayer Leverkusen winger to the Premier League, but Liverpool opted for the Egyptian player instead. Despite being linked with a $32m (£25m/€29m) move, Brandt turned down Liverpool’s advances.
Despite his earlier struggles at Chelsea, Salah has been a huge success at Liverpool. The 31-year-old has won numerous honors, including the Premier League and Champions League, and has broken many records.
Carragher discussed who should have a say in signing players during a Stick to Football episode. He was joined by Ian Wright, Roy Keane, Jill Scott and Gary Neville. They debated whether recruitment teams and data-driven transfer dealings should be used, or if those in the dugout should control the market business.
Carragher said on the Stick to Football podcast: “When he initially came in, an interesting one was Mohamed Salah and Jürgen Klopp is open about this. He didn’t want to sign him, he wanted Julian Brandt.
“Liverpool had tried to sign Salah before he went to Chelsea and the people behind the scenes at Liverpool were still there and Salah then went to Roma, and they were very adamant that they had to sign this player. You look at what Mohamed Salah has done, but it could have easily gone the other way.
“I do feel that this idea that managers should buy every player isn’t right, but a manager shouldn’t have a player pushed on him. I don’t think a manager should just be able to do what he wants, you look at Manchester United and it’s worrying, it feels as if he’s [Erik ten Hag] just bought every player he knows.”
These days, Brandt is making waves in Germany with Klopp’s old team, Borussia Dortmund. The 27-year-old has shown his worth, appearing 215 times for Leverkusen before moving to Dortmund where he’s played nearly 200 games.
Making the move to Anfield ‘wasn’t right’ according to Brandt. “I had that chance to take that next step to join Liverpool, but the time wasn’t right for me,” he revealed to The Athletic in 2023. “I was aware that they were also looking at Mo Salah at the time. It’s a shame because I would have loved to play for Kloppo.”
