>That was also the time when Liverpool approached Udinese to secure a deal for the midfielder, sending a ‘private jet’ to pick him up and give him a chance to discuss his move with then-Reds’ manager Klopp in person.
>“Liverpool sent a private jet to pick me up. I was shocked because it was the first time I travelled on that means of transport. When we landed, we took the bus to go to Klopp’s. It was a building, he had everything there.
>…
>“The conversation was great. Klopp told me that I am a mix between Fabregas and Gundogan in his opinion. I didn’t understand anything, but my agent spoke German and told me everything.
>“When we were leaving, I managed to take a picture with Klopp.”
>Zielinski explained deal eventually didn’t go through due to Udinese’s demands, and not because of a picture in which the player posed with a Liverpool shirt as it was rumoured back then.
>“They offered €18.5m, but Udinese wanted something more,” the Polish international said.
>“Nevertheless, Liverpool couldn’t exceed a certain limit for me, as I wasn’t a top player yet. The other side of the coin is that I also didn’t feel like that.
>“I don’t think [the picture in Liverpool’s shirt] had any effect. It wasn’t a big scandal, but [journalist] Bartosz Ignacik could’ve avoided all that. I was young, stupid and unaware and that’s the way it ended up. But it hadn’t any effect.”
SRFC_96 on
He would’ve been very good for us, it’s a shame the deal didn’t go through.
Mercerai on
Iirc Udinese’s owner didn’t like us or something? He ended up moving to Napoli for less than we offered in the end anyway
TheRealCostaS on
If I recall we ended up signing Gini instead of Zielinski.
4 Comments
Some bits from the article:
>Before signing for the Azzurri in the summer of 2016, [Zielinski](https://football-italia.net/four-serie-a-scorers-in-latest-internationals/) spent two seasons at [Empoli](https://football-italia.net/teams/empoli) on loan, drawing the interest of several big clubs thanks to his displays.
>That was also the time when Liverpool approached Udinese to secure a deal for the midfielder, sending a ‘private jet’ to pick him up and give him a chance to discuss his move with then-Reds’ manager Klopp in person.
>“Jurgen Klopp invited me to his house,” Zielinski revealed in an interview with FootTruck, as [quoted by Fcinternews](https://www.fcinternews.it/copertina/zielinski-svela-potevo-andare-al-liverpool-klopp-mi-ha-invitato-a-casa-sua-e-c-era-un-idea-col-barcellona-965932).
>“Liverpool sent a private jet to pick me up. I was shocked because it was the first time I travelled on that means of transport. When we landed, we took the bus to go to Klopp’s. It was a building, he had everything there.
>…
>“The conversation was great. Klopp told me that I am a mix between Fabregas and Gundogan in his opinion. I didn’t understand anything, but my agent spoke German and told me everything.
>“When we were leaving, I managed to take a picture with Klopp.”
>Zielinski explained deal eventually didn’t go through due to Udinese’s demands, and not because of a picture in which the player posed with a Liverpool shirt as it was rumoured back then.
>“They offered €18.5m, but Udinese wanted something more,” the Polish international said.
>“Nevertheless, Liverpool couldn’t exceed a certain limit for me, as I wasn’t a top player yet. The other side of the coin is that I also didn’t feel like that.
>“I don’t think [the picture in Liverpool’s shirt] had any effect. It wasn’t a big scandal, but [journalist] Bartosz Ignacik could’ve avoided all that. I was young, stupid and unaware and that’s the way it ended up. But it hadn’t any effect.”
He would’ve been very good for us, it’s a shame the deal didn’t go through.
Iirc Udinese’s owner didn’t like us or something? He ended up moving to Napoli for less than we offered in the end anyway
If I recall we ended up signing Gini instead of Zielinski.