Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal were once fighting for the chance to sign the 'next Eden Hazard', who now looks set to join Manchester City instead
According to the Mirror, the Reds almost signed Doku five-years ago for a fraction of the fee which Rennes have demanded from the Premier League champions. The report states that Liverpool were so close to wrapping up a deal for the Belgian star that his then-club, Anderlecht, had given Jurgen Klopp permission to talk to him.
It's said that Arsenal and Chelsea were also keen to secure his services, so the German reached out to Steven Gerrard, who was coaching the club’s under-18s at the time, Gini Wijnaldum and Sadio Mane to help persuade Doku to join. Interestingly, the Mirror add that Klopp even told the teenage sensation that he could replace the latter one day during a tour of the Melwood training ground.
However, while Liverpool pulled out the big guns to lure Doku to Merseyside, their idea didn't quite go to plan. In an interview with Ouest-France, as quoted by the Mirror, the soon-to-be City star later revealed that Mane told him that there was no need to rush a move to the English top-flight.
"My 16th birthday was coming up, the age you can sign a pro contract," said Doku. "A lot of teams came to see me - Liverpool was the most concrete interest but there was also Arsenal and Chelsea.
"I went with my mum and dad, and we were given a tour of the stadium, the training ground, even the school I would go to. They gave me a signed Salah shirt, and I met the players.
"I was able to discuss with Jurgen, Gerrard too, we looked at some video moments, and he spoke about the development. We met players, (Simon) Mignolet because he was Belgian, Wijnaldum from Netherlands. I talked a lot with Mane but we didn't really talk about football. We talked about everything.
"He told me that I was young, that I still had time… he wasn't trying to convince me or to say to me 'come here, you will succeed'. So I preferred to be careful.
"I knew what my trajectory had to be. I knew what route I needed to take and I knew at that moment I needed to stay at Anderlecht."
Fast-forward five years and Doku now looks set to join Pep Guardiola at the Etihad Stadium. According to Fabrizio Romano, City are finalising a deal for the youngster, with the documents already exchanged with Rennes.
Speaking in Facebook live video with La Tribune for RTBF, former Premier League star Phillipe Albert explained why he would be an excellent addition to the Premier League. He said: "He has incredible qualities that were discovered in Anderlecht but he has often been injured in the last two, three seasons.
"It is a young nugget that had left for more than €20m (£17m) so Rennes would accept an offer of €60m (£51m). I think the march is not too high, he has the qualities to win in the Premier League or in any world championship.
"If he is 100 per cent physically, he will impose himself and disgust the opponents. It’s a bit like Eden Hazard at the beginning of his career with his double, triple accelerations that can hurt a lot.
"In England, some teams are still a little naive at this level so it would hurt. He can play on both sides but I remain convinced that a player must play on his right foot so I would put him on the right. The role of a winger is also to feed the attacker so if you have the right player, there is no better at that level."
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