Liverpool were 'within hours' of signing Manchester United star this summer
Liverpool came ‘within hours’ snatching Sofyan Amrabat away from Manchester United during the summer transfer window.
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The Morocco international is finally poised to make his full United debut this evening against Crystal Palace in the Carabao Cup.
Amrabat made his first appearance in United colours as a late substitute in Saturday’s 1-0 win over Burnley at Turf Moor nearly a month on from his deadline day arrival.
United fans have been forced to remain patient to gage what sort of impact will have on their midfield but Erik ten Hag might have missed out on his signing altogether had Jurgen Klopp had his way.
According to the Daily Mail, the Liverpool boss made a personal phone call to the 27-year-old in an attempt to convince the former Fiorentina star to become part of his midfield rebuild following the departures of Jordan Henderson, Fabinho and James Milner.
Klopp is said to have come ‘a whisker away’ from winning the race to sign Amrabat until a late, unexpected delay prompted the Reds to turn their attention to signing Ryan Gravenberch from Bayern Munich instead.
Talks between Liverpool and Amrabat’s camp were put on hold for 24 hours and it was during that period that Liverpool explored the possibility of signing Gravenberch who it was deemed was a better fit for Klopp’s needs given his age.
United, ultimately, paid an £8.5million loan fee for Amrabat and will look to make his move a permanent one next summer and retain an option to buy him for £21.4m.
Ten Hag, meanwhile, intends to take the Carabao Cup seriously this season despite the fixtures beginning to pile up.
Speaking ahead of tonight’s game against Palace, he said: ‘It is only a few months since we lifted the Carabao Cup at Wembley Stadium and we all remember what a great feeling that was.
‘It was an important competition for us last season and that has not changed this year. We want to defend the trophy, so as we welcome Roy Hodgson and Crystal Palace tonight, this is an opportunity for us to keep moving in the right direction.’
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