Liverpool target ‘cried’ after last-minute transfer move collapsed despite agreeing deal

Liverpool fans have been burned by many transfer dealings in the past but none may have hurt more than the scuppered move of Yevhen Konoplyanka in 2014

Yevhen Konoplyanka broke down in tears as his ideal transfer to Liverpool fell through at the final second.

Due to his achievements both at home and abroad, the Ukrainian winger—who was then playing for his childhood side Dnipro—was regarded as one of Europe’s most promising young players in 2014.

Liverpool, who were having an unexpectedly successful season in the 2013–14 Premier League, led by the deadly combination of Daniel Sturridge and Luis Suarez, took notice of his achievements.

Brendan Rodgers, the manager of the Reds, wanted even more firepower in his team despite having a deadly forward line that included players like Philippe Coutinho and Raheem Sterling. Therefore, he opted to hunt for reinforcements by entering the January transfer window.

Three years before he eventually joined Liverpool, Mohamed Salah had joined Chelsea from Basel, and the club had only one month to find a deal. Consequently, they decided to sign Konoplyanka. The transfer appeared to be finalized with a sum agreed upon with Ihor Kolomoyskyi, the owner of Dnipro, and personal conditions with the winger.

On Deadline Day, though, the Ukrainian team decided to halt the transfer, leaving the 34-year-old winger a blubbering mess. “I was crying,” Konoplyanka has now admitted in an interview with Weszlo. “A group of earnest individuals from Liverpool visited Dnipropetrovsk. We had dinner together. They declared, “Deal done.” They were had to pay [owner] Ihor Kolomoyskyi the amount he desired.”

He said that he received messages from Martin Skrtel and Steven Gerrard and he even begged Kolomoyskyi to push the transfer through but to no avail despite being offered £20million. “I had to go to Kolomoyskyi. ‘Please, please, please, let me go, I will make my dream come true’, I begged.”

Ian Ayre, the chief executive of Liverpool, even traveled to Ukraine in an attempt to negotiate a deal, but Kolomoyskyi postponed talks and rejected the Reds’ offers at the conclusion of Deadline Day. After a further year and a half at Dnipro, Konoplyanka left the team in 2015 to sign a free transfer to Sevilla.