Fabrizio Romano: Liverpool refused 'extraordinary' midfielder salary demands

A Liverpool summer transfer target priced himself out of a Premier League move which led to their late transfer, according to Fabrizio Romano.

Federico Chiesa’s £12.5 million move was Liverpool’s only signing for this season, with Giorgi Mamardashvili staying at Valencia, and only joining up with the Red’s squad next summer.

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There was clamouring from fans for a defensive midfielder to sign, and the club reportedly saw this position as a priority too. Liverpool failed in their attempt to tempt Martin Zubimendi from Real Sociedad, and then decided not to look for alternatives elsewhere.

Liverpool did reportedly start looking at signing a free agent, however the deal fell through, with the player ending up in France despite a host of English clubs looking for his signature.

Why Liverpool wanted Adrien Rabiot

Liverpool looked at the potential of signing French midfielder Adrien Rabiot, the 29-year-old deciding not to renew with Juventus, and therefore available on a free transfer.

It has since been confirmed that Rabiot has signed for Marseille. The club confirmed the signing on their website saying:

“Olympique de Marseille announces that it has reached an agreement in principle with Adrien Rabiot for the arrival of the French international midfielder at the club. The player will sign with OM subject to the result of the medical examination.”

Rabiot tends to play further forward, but does have experience as a number six, and is similar to Ryan Gravenberch in his versatility in this regard.

Former Juventus striker David Trezeguet labelled the French midfielder as an ‘extraordinary player’ when speaking to Football Italia in the past.

Whilst the signing of Rabiot may have provided some extra depth for the Reds in the engine room, Ryan Gravenberch is currently performing brilliantly in the number six role, with a man-of-the-match performance on his Champions League debut for Liverpool.

Romano explains reason why Liverpool did not sign Rabiot

Fabrizio Romano has now revealed to CaughtOffside that Rabiot ended up not coming to the Premier League due to his high wages, which neither Liverpool or Manchester United were willing to meet. Recent reports have stated he wanted to be the second highest-paid player at Liverpool, behind Mohamed Salah.

Romano said: “There were big, very big proposals from Turkey and Saudi but he only wanted to play in one of the European top leagues.

“The Premier League was his dream, but his salary requests were considered too expensive. OM have been excellent at working behind the scenes and getting it done for a reduced salary, convincing Rabiot of their project.”