Arne Slot REJECTED offer to sign Man United star

Liverpool turned down a chance to sign one now-Manchester United star in the summer. The Reds had better.

One of the most incredible things about Arne Slot's start to life at Liverpool is how he's doing all of this without any major additions. The club brought in just one player to boost the first-team ranks - Federico Chiesa.

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That hasn't worked out at all, however. Chiesa has just one start to his name and now there's proper talk that he could depart in January.

The magic of Slot, then, has been in how he's developed players. Even someone as incredible as Mo Salah has moved up a level under the Dutchman and is now arguably the world's best player.

But perhaps Ryan Gravenberch is the standout. He was almost an afterthought at Liverpool coming out of last season, with links in the summer to Galatasaray.

Slot, though, saw incredible potential there - even in a role Gravenberch wasn't known for. And what a shout that was.

Liverpool vote Gravenberch

Liverpool certainly had options in their no.6 role other than Gravenberch. They tried hard to get Martin Zubimendi, of course, but ultimately failed.

One interesting option, though, was Manuel Ugarte. The then-Paris Saint-Germain midfielder was up for grabs and The Times reports that Liverpool were offered the Uruguayan.

They rejected the chance to sign him, however. Arne Slot felt he was the wrong type of midfielder for what he wanted his team to do.

He wanted a 'constructive' player, rather than a 'destructive' one like Ugarte. The Dutchman backed his compatriot in Gravenberch to be that player, with the Reds then allowing the PSG star to join Manchester United instead.

Ugarte has been decent enough for United, but is clearly a different player to Gravenberch and not one who would have worked in Slot's team. Liverpool and Slot unquestionably made the correct decision here.

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