Liverpool star nearly signed for another Premier League club years ago - was incredibly close to PL move before Liverpool

We all know the infamous transfer story surrounding Robert Lewandowski to Blackburn Rovers back in 2010.

The Polish forward was due to sign for the Rovers but due to a volcanic ash cloud, he couldn't fly over to complete the deal and, as they say, the rest is history.

Liverpool have a similar transfer story with the pandemic being the overriding barrier to this deal.

Their star signing this summer Darwin Nunez was inches away from signing for Brighton before signing for Benfica.

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How close was Nunez to Brighton?

As the story goes, Nunez was dead set on a move to Brighton back in 2020.

Following a 16-goal campaign for Almería in the Spanish second tier, Brighton and Hove Albion tried to sign him.

The pandemic, however, scuppered the move, with Núñez’s entourage unable to travel to England for face-to-face talks - very similar to Lewandowski's story - as his entourage opted for the shorter trip to Portgual instead.

This saw a £20m deal completed for the then-21-year-old but he only managed five league goals in 13 games in an underwhelming debut campaign.

Brighton tested the waters to see if Benfica would cash in but after the appointment of Rui Costa, the deal was put on hold.

It was claimed the Uruguayan had 'one and a half feet' at the Amex Stadium but the Seagulls were beaten at the death once again and missed out on what would have been a great signing.

Nunez's Liverpool career so far

Despite some poorly placed criticism of the £85m signing in the opening two games of pre-season - he bounced back with four goals in 45 minutes against RB Leipzig.

Having missed a big chance against Manchester United in his first taste of Liverpool action, he settled into life as a Jurgen Klopp player by tearing the German side's defence apart.

Klopp was aggrieved by his team's performance against RB Salzburg, claiming the Reds made it difficult for the striker in the 1-0 loss having not supported the forward enough during attacks.

With the Community Shield against Manchester City this weekend, we will get a chance to see how Nunez fairs against the best team in the country.