The pursuit of a goalkeeper was widely covered at Liverpool in the summer and they eventually agreed a deal with Valencia for Giorgi Mamardashvili to move to Anfield next summer.
The Valencia goalkeeper is seen as the long-term replacement for Alisson Becker and will be moving to Anfield at the end of the ongoing season.
However, Liverpool’s initial plan was to bring in a new number 2 to Alisson and several goalkeepers were looked at by their recruitment team.
Being the second-choice goalkeeper behind a stalwart like the Brazilian was not an appealing prospect to several shot-stoppers who were number 1s at their respective clubs last season.
Lopes was one of the goalkeepers who were looked at by the Reds but he was not keen to move to Anfield to warm the bench behind Alisson.
Lopes insinuates that he rejected Liverpool in the summer
The 34-year-old goalkeeper was the undisputed number one at Lyon last season and made 31 appearances in the French top flight.
His performances attracted the interest of Liverpool and Lopes indicated that he even had an offer on his table from the Merseyside giants.
However, he insinuated that he knocked back the offer from the Reds as he didn’t want to be a number 2 goalkeeper.
But the Portuguese did admit that he could have taken a different decision if he received the offer towards the end of the transfer window.
He told French sports daily L’Equipe: “Yes, it’s true that I had opportunities very early in the transfer window.
“Especially one, in a very big European team. Honestly, it wasn’t my goal at that time to be No. 2.
“But if it had happened at the end of the transfer window, maybe my choice would have been different.”
The goalkeeper may regret knocking back the offer from the Reds
Lopes’ admission that his decision would have been different towards the end of the summer is an indication of his position in the Lyon squad.
While he was the number one at Lyon last season, he is now struggling to get into Pirre Sage’s matchday squads this term.
The Portuguese is now more or less the fourth-choice goalkeeper in the Lyon squad and is looking into the squad from the outside.
