I cried when my dream Liverpool transfer was blocked after begging the owner to let me go
As things stand, it’s shaping up to be another quiet January transfer window for Liverpool. The Reds held interest in Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, but never made a move for the Georgia international as he instead closes in on a move to Paris Saint-Germain.
Should the Reds not dip their toes into the market, supporters will understandably be disappointed. They are currently competing on all four fronts after all, and know full well, sitting atop of the Premier League table, that every little helps.
Yet that feeling of not signing anyone in January is not a new one to Kopites. While former manager Jurgen Klopp signed eight players mid-season in his nine years at Anfield, the German is on the record sharing his discontent for the market.
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“I am not the biggest friend of the January transfer window,” he said when overseeing his first winter window with Liverpool back in 2016. That month, he would make Marko Grujic his first signing, though the Serbian would stay with Red Star Belgrade until the summer, and brought in Steven Caulker on loan. Fortunately, the likes of Virgil van Dijk, Luis Diaz and Cody Gakpo were much more successful mid-season buys!
Indeed, some of the Reds’ best signings in the Premier League era have come in January. Along with the aforementioned trio, you can also include Philippe Coutinho, Daniel Sturridge, Luis Suarez, and Javier Mascherano, Maxi Rodriguez, Martin Skrtel, Alvaro Arbeloa, and Daniel Agger as some of their other success stories.
Liverpool have signed 25 senior players since the January transfer window was first introduced in 2002/03. From those 22 previous winter windows, the Reds have been inactive in eight of them, with six of those falling during FSG’s time in charge since taking over the club in October 2010.
Sometimes, that has been through choice but in other cases it was not through lack of trying. And January 2014 - with Liverpool then unknowingly about to start a Premier League title charge - falls into the latter category.
For all the great players the Reds have signed in January windows, they nearly landed their greatest ever Premier League signing mid-season. They were in talks to sign Mohamed Salah from FC Basel but they ultimately refused to match the £12m asking price, with their reluctance enabling Chelsea to swoop in and sign the forward instead.
The Egyptian would of course flop at Stamford Bridge, departing on loan to Fiorentina after just a year in England before moving on to AS Roma. Joining the Serie A side permanently in August 2016 after another successful loan, Liverpool would bring him back to England in 2017 after seeing him flourish in Italy, and the rest, as they say, is history.
But that was no good to Brendan Rodgers’ side in January 2014. They had to turn their attention elsewhere. Sitting fourth in the Premier League, eight points off league-leaders Arsenal, at the time of Chelsea announcing they had agreed a deal for Salah, they still sought reinforcements with little over a week of the transfer window remaining.
Yevhen Konoplyanka was their next target of choice, with the Ukraine international holding a £15m buyout clause in his contract with Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk. Liverpool made it clear they were prepared to match it, only for the club’s owner, Ihor Kolomoyskyi, to simply refuse to sign off the deal as he didn't want to lose his star player.
The ECHO reported at the time how managing director Ian Ayre had spent 48 hours in Ukraine desperately trying to secure the services of the 24-year-old winger. He believed Konoplyanka would be heading for Anfield too after Liverpool’s improved offer triggered his buyout clause.
"There is no update," Rodgers said early on transfer deadline day as the Reds raced against the clock. "There is obviously an interest in the player but there is no update.
"We'll see how it goes but obviously it is complicated. The staff that are over there have done brilliant work in terms of giving us every chance of getting the player.
"It has all happened very quickly and the timeline on everything always makes it tight. But we've had a list with a number of players on it and we'll see how it all develops.
"It's not just for now, it's for the future as well. We are still in the middle of building here and growing a group. We will need a number of players.
"I'm very happy with the group I have. If it doesn't work out and we don't get anyone in then we've shown over the course of the season that this is a team that is ready to fight all the way. But let's hope something can happen."
The Ukraine international would end up passing a medical and agreeing a long-term contract with the Reds. However, the transfer couldn’t go through on transfer deadline day because Dnipro’s multi-billionaire owner wouldn’t sign the relevant paperwork.
The ECHO reported that the deal didn’t collapse due to finance but simply the owner’s point blank refusal to sell one of his prized assets. Dnipro would claim differently, insisting that Liverpool had not agreed with the asking price.
“For Konoplyanka, whom Liverpool wanted to buy, a specific amount was assigned, Dnipro CEO Andriy Stetsenko explained to Tribuna. “The British club fought until the last (minute to sign him). Then their representatives flew to us on a private jet for the final stage of negotiations. In case of a positive outcome, Konoplyanka was supposed to fly away with them.
“(Liverpool) did not agree with the figure that was asked of them. Perhaps they thought that a private jet would make some impression. That showed the seriousness of their intentions. (But Dnipro) did not go for a price reduction. As a result, Liverpool flew away with nothing.”
Meanwhile, executive director Andriy Rusol claimed Liverpool failed to transfer the necessary funds on time.
“The British did not have time to complete the transaction,” he insisted. “Our club could not sign the documents until our account received the money.
“It is not our fault, Liverpool representatives could have arrived a day or two earlier."
However, the Reds denied that was the case, with the ECHO seeing paperwork at the time which confirmed the full fee had been transferred more than two hours before Friday’s 11pm deadline.
Rodgers would share his sympathy with Konoplynaka following the deal’s collapse, admitting Liverpool could renew their interest the following summer. However, the ECHO understood that that would be highly unlikely due to their unsavoury dealings with Dnipro.
“The club did everything possible to get the player in,” Rodgers said after the Reds’ 1-1 draw at West Brom. “We had our chief scout, managing director and doctor out there to conclude the deal – and from our point categorically Ian Ayre did a brilliant job trying to negotiate.
“I’ve heard the problem mentioned was about the money but that was not a problem. It just wasn’t to be. I feel really sorry for the player because he was obviously desperate to come but it’s gone now and we will review it in the summer.
“There is obviously going to be a greater market to look at then but it wouldn’t stop us. It is of no consequence now. I don’t focus on that. There is no point in me looking back.
“I said it would’ve been nice to have got some reinforcements in but that wasn’t to be the case and so yesterday has no consequence now.
“I’ve got to work with the players I have here. We have 14 games to go, we are still in a great position and the squad is very focused on our objectives so I can’t afford to think about what we could or couldn’t have done.”
Come May, Liverpool would miss out on the Premier League title to Man City by just two points. This was despite boasting a five-point lead at the top of the table after their 35th game, as well as a nine-point advantage over the eventual champions who admittedly still had two games in hand.
How different things might have been had they been successful in strengthening their squad in January. Kopites will hope that Arne Slot's side aren't left with similar regrets come May this season.
Yet Raheem Sterling’s emergence, cementing his place in Rodgers’ starting XI during the second half of the season as he linked up brilliantly with Luis Suarez and Daniel Sturridge softened the blow somewhat. The England international finished the season with nine goals and seven assists as the Reds came agonisingly close to winning a maiden Premier League title.
Meanwhile, Konoplyanka would eventually get his big move to one of Europe's major leagues the following year as he signed for Sevilla at the end of his Dnipro contract in 2015.
He would later reveal how he had spoken to Steven Gerrard and Martin Skrtel about his move to Liverpool, and had been left in tears after he met with Kolomoyskyi and begged him to sign the paperwork, only for the Dnipro owner to refuse.
“I was crying. A delegation of serious people from Liverpool came to Dnipropetrovsk,” he recalled to Weszlo. “We ate dinner. They were (willing) to pay as much as (Dnipro owner) Ihor Kolomoyskyi wanted.
“Martin Skrtel wrote me a message: ‘We are waiting for you’. Steven Gerrard also gave me his blessing. I used to go to Kolomoyskyi: ‘Please, please, please, let me go. It will make my dream come true’. I begged. Liverpool offered 25m euros (£18m). But I didn’t feel disappointed about going to Sevilla (instead).”
The forward lifted the Europa League in his first season with Sevilla, helping the Spaniards beat Liverpool in the final. However, he was sold to Schalke months later and has never come close to matching the heights of Salah or Sterling.
After two seasons in the Bundesliga, he returned to Ukraine with Shakhtar Donetsk in September 2019 just a few weeks before his 30th birthday. After becoming a free agent, he then joined Polish side Cracovia in February 2022.
Konoplynaka made his latest move last July, signing for Romanian side CFR Cluj on a free transfer. However, he would end up making four appearances for the club, and saw his contract terminated prematurely in January 2024. The following July, he would announce his retirement from football.
Hindsight is a wonderful thing. As much as the Reds wanted Konoplynaka at the time, looking back they will have no regrets at missing out on his services. In the end, the only tears shed at Liverpool’s failure to sign the forward were those of the player himself.