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‘Tried to get me’: 31-year-old says Liverpool tried to sign him for £20m when he was at Tottenham
Steven Caulker had a famous loan spell at Liverpool under Jurgen Klopp, but he could’ve ended up at Anfield under Brendan Rodgers for £20m a few years earlier.
on the Undr The Cosh Podcast, Caulker was discussing the highs and the lows of his career, and he was asked about the transfer opportunities that eluded him during his peak years.
Caulker said that he was approached by Brendan Rodgers twice during his career, once when he was the Celtic manager and once when he went to Liverpool.
Caulker claims that the Reds offered Tottenham around £20m for his services at the time, but Spurs weren’t playing ball.
Liverpool wanted Caulker
The 31-year-old shared how he almost signed for the Merseyside club.
“Is it true that Rodgers came in for you when he was at Celtic?” Caulker was asked.
“Yeah, he came for me at Celtic and he came for me at Liverpool as well. After he left Swansea he went there, and he tried to get me to come from Tottenham and Tottenham said no. That was for around £20m, the same year they got Joe Allen. They said no that year and a year later sold be for £8m, so that tells you something about my behaviour that year,” Caulker said.
What could have been
Caulker’s career has been a very interesting one, and it’s well worth listening to this podcast to hear his story, but we can’t help but wonder what could have been if he’d signed for Liverpool at this point.
Brendan Rodgers knew him well from his loan spell at Swansea, he trusted him and the honour of playing first-team football for a club like Liverpool could have potentially have kept Caulker on the right track.
The 31-year-old would, of course, eventually get his move to Liverpool on loan under Klopp, but by that point he wasn’t rated as highly and he didn’t get the gametime he would’ve gotten under Rodgers if he’d signed in 2012.
