Revealed: Jurgen Klopp almost passed on signing Mohamed Salah for Liverpool and had to be convinced by research team to bring Egyptian to Anfield

Ian Graham, a former Liverpool director of research, has claimed that Klopp actually wanted to sign Julian Brandt from Bayer Leverkusen in 2017 instead of Salah from Roma. While Graham's colleagues agreed that the German international was a "very good young player", he was not at the same level as the Egyptian winger. Graham added that the Reds needed a wide player at the time, Salah fit the bill and Klopp allegedly said he was "open" to being convinced. And the rest is history.

Graham said on the documentary, How to Win the Champions League: Liverpool 2019:"Jurgen's preferred option for that summer was Julian Brandt, who was a great player. Jurgen would obviously know him very well coming from the Bundesliga and knowing the German market very well. We agreed that Brandt was a very good young player but not a standout in the same way that Mo was. From our data analysis point of view, Mo was the best young wide forward in Europe full stop. Roma were under pressure to sell because their finances were not in a good place so we knew he was available for a good price. He played a forward and wide role that we needed to fill at the time whereas Brandt was more of an attacking midfielder. It's to Jurgen's credit that he engaged in that debate in an honest way with his eyes open to say, 'OK, I'm open to be convinced, show me that Mo is better'."

Salah has proven to be one of the best signings in Premier League history, with the 32-year-old scoring 243 goals and notching 110 assists in just 393 games for Liverpool. And he cost just £34 million ($44.5m) at the time. How different it might have been for the Merseyside outfit if they hadn't signed the ex-Chelsea man.

Salah will look to add to his goals and assists tally when they travel to Fulham on Sunday in the Premier League. Incidentally, How to win the Champions League: Liverpool 2019 is available on BBC iPlayer now and on BBC One on Wednesday, April 9, at 11.40pm.