Brazilian international Fabinho signed for Liverpool instead of Manchester United or Manchester City following a charm offensive from Roberto Firmino - and hearing Jurgen Klopp's big voice.
Fabinho, who has been a revelation since changing positions to cover for the injured Virgil van Dijk, joined Liverpool from Monaco in a £45million deal two years ago.
Best known as a high-quality midfielder, his recent presence in the centre of defence alongside Joel Matip has led to Liverpool conceding only six goals in 11 games since van Dijk's sustained serious knee ligament damages against Everton.
'I could imagine that Man United and City were there as well. We just said what we had to say and what he will be for us,' said Klopp about landing the influential Brazilian.
'I think the best help was probably Bobby (Firmino) who knew him. Philippe (Coutinho) knew him from the national team and loved Liverpool, so these types of things help a little bit more.
'I couldn’t tell you what I said to him because it was too long ago but it was obviously convincing enough. I can picture in my mind when I met him first, he was a pretty shy boy and maybe thought it will be the best to be around a pretty vocal, loud manager.
'That might have been the reason why he joined us.'
Fabinho's transition from using his smoothness in the middle of the park to reading the game at the back is not surprising for Klopp who is also missing England defender Joe Gomez through injury.
'I would say that Fab is an organisation-orientated player,' said Klopp. 'He is very strategic. For Monaco he played quite frequently as a right back, then he played as one of two No6s. I’m not sure if he played centre half before but probably yes. He is just able to do it.
'You can see that in different situations, that his challenging skills are just outstanding defensively. On top of that, he is good in small spaces. Thank God we have him, and Joel and the other boys – that we have somebody who can play this position!
'We had to adapt slightly. But the way we defend, we had a different partnership obviously with or without Virgil playing.'
Trent Alexander-Arnold could start his first league game for a month at Fulham on Sunday having completed 90 minutes in the Champions League against FC Midtjylland in midweek. The 22-year-old skippered his hometown club for the first time with Jordan Henderson, James Milner, van Dijk and Gini Wijnaldum absent.
'It was only when I told him that I saw that it meant a lot to him,' said Klopp. 'That's cool and it will be his role in the future when other players have finished their careers here.
'He is already preparing to be the face of this club in the future – hopefully along with some others. That's really nice and when I saw how much it meant to him it made me happy. But the decision was a logical one because of the time he's been at the club.'
Klopp, who welcomed van Dijk being around the camp for last weekend's win against Wolves following successful surgery, has confirmed Liverpool won't be having a Christmas party this year due to Covid restrictions.
'We can't,' he said. 'Partying is not the reason for me as for why I want normal life back but I understand it is for a lot of people who like that and I wish normality back as much as anybody. But the Christmas party for the team and fancy dress will not happen at all for sure, no.'