9 of the most CONTROVERSIAL Liverpool transfers of all time
Raul Meireles to Chelsea (2011)
The only one of Roy Hodgson’s signings who actually worked out, Portugal midfielder Meireles arrived in the summer of 2010 from Porto for around £11.5 million to replace Javier Mascherano.
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Liverpool were lost in the Hodgson wilderness in 2010/11 and it wasn’t until Kenny Dalglish took over halfway through the season that Meireles really came into form.
He scored five goals in seven games just after the turn of the year - including one against Everton - and ultimately earned the PFA Fans’ Player of the Year award for his work in lifting Liverpool up the table. Things, however, quickly turned sour.
"All I have to say is I had one promise at Liverpool which wasn't fulfilled,” Meireles told the media after completing a sudden transfer to Chelsea in August 2011.
"Liverpool asked me to hand in a transfer request, that's normal."
It’s been reported that the Reds went back on a promise to give Meireles a pay rise and they certainly missed him in the seasons that followed.
Xabi Alonso to Real Madrid (2009)
Xabi Alonso arrived as part of a seismic summer in 2004 alongside Luis Garcia under new manager Rafael Benitez.
Liverpool’s Spanish revolution would pay off quickly - winning the Champions League at the end of that season with the former Real Sociedad player scoring in the final.
Alonso would also add the FA Cup to his medal collection in 2006. However, the Spain international struggled to put together full seasons due to injuries on Merseyside, even if his qualities were never in question.
But with Rafa utilising new midfielders like Lucas Leiva and Javier Mascherano, Alonso was increasingly under threat for his position.
Things reached a head in 2008 when Benitez appeared desperate to shift Alonso out in favour of bringing in Gareth Barry. That left Alonso unsettled on Merseyside and a year later and he fulfilled his wish of pushing through a move to Real Madrid.
Alonso went on to win the World Cup for Spain - as well as a second European Championship - and added a second Champions League to his collection with Real Madrid in 2014.
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Philippe Coutinho to Barcelona (2018)
The brilliant Brazilian playmaker was advised by then-manager Jurgen Klopp to stick with Liverpool and see a statue built of him outside Anfield. Sadly for Coutinho, he declined and his career never again hit the heights it did at Anfield.
The five years he spent on Merseyside were devastating - having been signed on Benitez’s recommendation from Inter in 2013.
He seemed to carry the Reds on his slender shoulders at times, twice winning the Liverpool fans’ - and players’ - player of the year award. He was also awarded a place in the 2014/15 PFA Premier League team of the year.
But the midfielder had set his sights on Barca - handing in a transfer request in summer 2017 - before finally getting his wish in January 2018.
Liverpool used the funds from the Coutinho transfer - over £140m - to build a world-changing new team which included Virgil van Dijk and Alisson Becker.
Of course that team would go on to dominate England, Europe and the world. Coutinho’s loss was very much Liverpool’s gain.
Raheem Sterling to Manchester City (2015)
Liverpool first signed Raheem Sterling as a teenager from Queens Park Rangers in 2010. He was initially assigned to the club’s academy but his talent and potential meant he was in the first team by early 2012.
He played a key part in the Reds’ run towards the Premier League title in 2014 alongside Luis Suarez and Daniel Sturridge and was twice awarded the club’s young player of the year award. But there was quickly a rupture in the relationship.
The attacker was involved in a high-profile contract standoff with the club in the second half of the 2014/15 season with agent Aidy Ward later claiming he wouldn’t sign a new deal even for £900,000 a week.
Sterling also gave an ill-advised and unsanctioned interview the BBC, in which he claimed he wasn’t a “money-grabber”, completely turning the Liverpool fanbase and club legends against him.
He was booed when collecting his second young player of the year award and asked to be left out of the club’s pre-season tour to Asia.
Liverpool turned down two bids from Manchester City, valued at £30m and £40m, before ultimately relenting and selling for around £50m. Sterling went on to succeed under Guardiola for City but damaged his legacy irreparably on Merseyside.
Michael Owen to Real Madrid (2004)
Unlike Trent, the Reds actually managed to get a fee for Michael Owen, who joined Los Blancos in 2004. By the end of the following season, Liverpool would be European champions and Owen would end up at Newcastle.
A Ballon d’Or winner during his time at Anfield, Owen’s career would never again hit the heights it did when he was top scorer in each and every season he played for Liverpool.
And while the attraction of playing with Ronaldo, Zinedine Zidane and Luis Figo was surely strong, the striker might well regret not winning a Champions League with his boyhood club.
But if Liverpool fans could forgive Owen for joining Madrid in 2005, they certainly could NOT excuse Owen joining Manchester United on a free transfer in 2009. That was the REAL betrayal.
He won the Premier League title as a bit-part player at Old Trafford and his reputation in Liverpool will probably never recover.
Steve McManaman to Real Madrid (1999)
Macca, Owen, Trent?
Steve McManaman invariably led Liverpool almost singlehandedly throughout the lean 1990s with his playmaking and assists.
But by 1997 he had a contract that was running down with Liverpool unable to meet the sums Macca would get on offer elsewhere.
The club actually accepted a bid from Barcelona for his services, out of fear of losing him on a free, but that deal fell apart. He later publicised his desire to play abroad and Juventus were also linked with his signature.
And McManaman stunned the world when he signed a pre-contract agreement with Real in January 1999.
Liverpool fans were outraged by the money-spining deal and he went on to enjoy some historic trophy wins with Madrid - including two Champions League titles and two Spanish league wins.
Those were the titles he deserved and something his Liverpool career was sorely lacking. Despite appearing in nine top-flight seasons for the Reds he only won one FA Cup and one League Cup - the latter of which was largely decided by McManaman.
Javier Mascherano to Barcelona (2010)
Javier Mascherano returned from the 2010 World Cup and demanded to be sold by Liverpool.
Then-manager Roy Hodgson criticised his actions, describing the Argentine as “selfish” but there would be no way to prevent him from getting his dream move to Barcelona.
Another player on this list whose talent did not ultimately match his medal tally at Anfield, Mascherano went on to win two Champions League titles and lots more under Pep Guardiola and Luis Enrique at Camp Nou.
Initially signed on a convoluted loan deal from West Ham in 2007, that move for Mascherano became permanent a year later. He contributed greatly for the Reds under Rafa Benitez alongside Steven Gerrard and Xabi Alonso - among others.
However it would go on to be a source of regret for the club that he could not enjoy his peak on Merseyside having established himself briefly as one of the best midfielders in the world during his time at the club.
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Fernando Torres to Chelsea (2011)
Liverpool and Fernando Torres were a match made in heaven. During his days as Atletico Madrid captain he even played with “You’ll Never Walk Alone” inscribed on his armband.
He initially struck up a wonderful partnership with Steven Gerrard and hit 81 goals in 142 games overall for the Reds.
However, that would be to ignore his patchy injury record at the club, only once going beyond the 25-game mark in the Premier League. By the time he was sold to Chelsea, his best days were long behind him.
But that is not to excuse the manner of his departure. Of course it was well known Liverpool were in serious financial trouble back then, relatively uncompetitive and £50m was A LOT of money.
But Torres handed in a transfer request in an attempt to get a move to one of Liverpool’s biggest Premier League rivals. That was seen as truly unforgivable.
Relations between Torres and the Kop have indeed thawed in recent years and he came back for last year’s legends’ match, where he got a nice reception at Anfield.
Luis Suarez to Barcelona (2014)
The wheels for Suarez’s exit were set in motion one year before his departure. That was summer 2013 when he used a television interview back home in Uruguay as a pretext to declare his intentions to quit.
He also suggested the Reds had promised him he could leave if they missed out on qualification for the Champions League that season.
It was reckoned that Suarez had a £40m release clause in his deal, leading to Arsenal’s desultory £40m+£1 offer for Suarez that summer.
The way Suarez courted a transfer was a slap in the face, particularly given the amount of trouble he caused when he was at the club.
Brendan Rodgers RAGED at Suarez during the saga, with the player banned from training, but saw fit to welcome him back to the fold.
Suarez would go on to have one of the best individual campaigns ever seen in the Premier League - leading Liverpool to the brink of the title and finishing with the PFA Player of the Year award.
That was even more impressive considering he missed the first five games of the season due to a biting ban.
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He signed a new contract midway through the season - thereby guaranteeing Liverpool a higher fee if he left - and even wore the captain’s armband - a stunning turnaround given fans were banning his shirt a year before.
He left Liverpool as he joined them - suspended for biting - joining Barca for some £65m after the 2014 World Cup.
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