Liverpool rejected by now-Manchester City star despite Jurgen Klopp greeting and extensive seven-point plan

Manchester City fans have been entertained by the news that Jeremy Doku had in fact rejected an intense approach from rivals Liverpool back in 2018, according to a report.

Etihad Stadium officials secured the signing of the 21-year-old Belgium international from RSC Anderlecht during the most recent summer transfer window, in a deal that was seen by many as a way of directly replacing Riyad Mahrez.

The Antwerp-born electric forward joined Manchester City in a deal understood to be worth in the region of £55 million, and has excelled in almost every single appearance under Pep Guardiola so far this season.

However, things could have been so much different for the Belgian starlet, with a recent report detailing the proposals he and his father received for his services while still a teenager with his now-former club.

This particular proposal concerns Liverpool, who are consistently known to favour attacking players with pace in abundance. However, on this occasion, the charm offensive issued for Doku ultimately failed, and a move to City would materialise instead five years later.

That is according to the information of Het Laatste Nieuws, as translated and relayed by Sport Witness, who report that RSC Anderlecht gave Liverpool ‘explicit permission to negotiate’ with Jeremy Doku in January 2018.

It is further detailed that a loan deal for Lazar Markovic even ‘explicitly’ included a clause about the then-17-year-old Jeremy Doku, with the Merseyside club ‘rolling out’ their plans to the player, including their sporting project, a house, a school and a contract alongside.

The special treatment did not stop there, as Sport Witness’ report goes on to detail a tour of Anfield and the club’s training facilities for Doku, that even saw the club ‘bring out the big guns’, in this case manager Jurgen Klopp, Simon Mignolet and Sadio Mane to convince him.

While Het Laatste Nieuws claims that Jeremy Doku’s father was convinced by a transfer, crucially the player himself was not and eventually signed a new deal to continue his development with RSC Anderlecht until leaving during the most recent summer market.

Jeremy Doku has so far registered 13 appearances across all competitions for Manchester City this season, scoring three goals for Pep Guardiola’s side and providing a further six assists in the process.

In Manchester City’s last Premier League outing, Doku broke records with a staggering five-goal contribution haul against Bournemouth at the Etihad Stadium as part of a convincing 6-1 win over the Cherries.

With one goal and four assists at the age of 21 years and 161 days against Bournemouth, Doku became both the youngest player in Premier League history with five goal involvements in a single game, as well as the youngest player to assist four goals, according to Opta.