Liverpool Goalkeeper Alisson 'Turned Down Juventus Move' in 2015 Over Buffon Fears
Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson is fast becoming an Anfield hero after another fine save, this time in the dying minutes against Napoli on Tuesday night, preserved the Reds' slender 1-0 lead and put them through to the Champions League knockout stages.
The Brazilian arrived on Merseyside from Roma in summer as the world's most expensive goalkeeper in history at a cool £67m. But things could easily have been so different after claims have emerged that he previously turned down a move to Juventus.
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According to CalcioMercato, Roma had initially wanted to sign Alisson in 2015 after he started to make a name for himself with Porto Alegre giants Internacional in Brazil. Yet Roma had already filled their three player non-EU quota and didn't have the space.
At that point, Juventus are said to have come in to try and complete a deal for €8m. But Alisson apparently turned down the opportunity over fears that he wouldn't be able to dislodge number one and Juve icon Gianluigi Buffon from the number one jersey.
As it happened, Juve also signed fellow Brazilian Neto as a free agent from Fiorentina in 2015, with the now Valencia stopper playing just 11 times in Serie A in two years behind Buffon.
Roma allegedly tried to organise Alisson's passage to Italy anyway, with director Walter Sabatini said to have attempted to strike a deal with Frosinone that would have seen them sign the goalkeeper and then sell him on to Roma a year later.
That ultimately did not happen either, leaving Roma to sign Alisson from Internacional in 2016. Ironically, given his apparent concerns over playing second fiddle to Buffon at Juve, he sat behind number one Wojciech Szczesny during his first year at Stadio Olimpico.
He was a starter for Roma for just one season before Liverpool broke the world record transfer fee for a goalkeeper in July, but is already proving his worth.
"If I knew Alisson was this good, I would have paid double. The save Alli made, I have no words for that. That was the lifesaver tonight," Jurgen Klopp gushed after the Napoli win.
