Rennes teen sensation Jeremy Doku, who snubbed advances from Liverpool, has scored a fine goal for Belgium against Belarus this evening.
Doku signed for Rennes from Anderlecht last summer, embarking upon his career in Europe’s top five leagues.
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The 18-year-old could easily have been a Liverpool player if things went differently, as he revealed during an interview with Ouest-France (quotes translated by Goal):
“I was going to be 16 and that was the age you can sign a pro contract. A lot of teams came to see me. Everyone talks about Liverpool because it was the most concrete interest but there was also Arsenal and Chelsea.”
“I was able to discuss with Jurgen [Klopp], Mane, [Georginio] Wijnaldum… [Steven] Gerrard too. I talked a lot with Mane but we didn’t really talk about football. We talked about everything.”
Doku went on to say, as reported by Ouest-France, “As soon as I’m asked if I regret it, I always say no, because if Liverpool came to me at 15, if they like me, they’ll come back later, that’s certain. It’s up to me to be play well.”
If Doku develops into the player that he looks destined to become, Liverpool may well consider him to be one that got away.
Though he is just 19-years-old, he looks totally at home on the international stage, playing alongside some top-class Belgian players.
Have a look at the confidence he showed by squaring up the Belarusian defender, taking the ball past him and finding the back of the net.
Pictures courtesy of SPORT TV
It’s this kind of positivity and efficiency in front of goal that Liverpool’s recent success has been built upon.
Jurgen Klopp must be watching this and wondering if he could be the heir to Sadio Mane or Mohamed Salah.