Man Utd and Liverpool attempts to sign classy midfielder revealed after Bruno Fernandes plea and trip to Jurgen Klopp’s house

Inter Milan midfielder Piotr Zielinski has spoken openly on how and why he could’ve ended up at Manchester United or Liverpool, and also revealed which two elite players Jurgen Klopp believed he was a mix of.

Zielinski played a huge role in helping Napoli to win their first Serie A title since 1990 in the 2023/23 season. The classy Polish midfielder stayed for one more season before bringing his eight-year career in Naples to a close last summer when joining Inter Milan.

But according to Zielinski himself, he could so easily have ended up in the Premier League with Man Utd or Liverpool – or even Arsenal or West Ham. When speaking on the Foot Truck YouTube channel, Zielinski spoke remarkably openly about transfer near misses and who Jurgen Klopp believed his game was comparable to.

“At one time, Bruno Fernandes wanted me to end up in Manchester,” began Zielinski. “We are still in touch, we talk quite often – we played together in Udinese, and in one of the matches we practically single-handedly beat Milan. As for West Ham – it was also close, [Napoli owner [Aurelio] De Laurentiis was also already convinced about the offer, they threw in €35m.

“They was already looking around for medical care for my wife and child, where I was going to live. Coach [Luciano] Spalletti took me aside once and asked me what was going on, and I said I would rather stay, fight for the championship. He said I want you to stay and that it would be the best version of Zielinski. I stayed because I didn’t really feel this London either.”

Zielinski added: “Liverpool sent a private jet to Florence for me and I flew with my agent Bartlomiej Bolek – we drove up to Klopp’s house afterwards, we had a great conversation. It was the first time I had flown like that. He said that for him I was a mix of [Ilkay] Gundogan and [Cesc] Fabregas.

“We watched a Premier League match at his place on his giant TV, I had never seen anything like that either. Arsenal were closer to realisation than Barcelona because De Laurentiis didn’t want a few boys from La Masia in return.”

What might have been for Piotr Zielinski

Zielinski played alongside Bruno Fernandes during their time at Udinese. But with the midfielder signing a four-year contract upon joining Inter over the summer, it now appears highly unlikely Fernandes will play alongside his former teammate at Old Trafford.

At what time Liverpool and Klopp made their own play for Zielinski wasn’t made clear by the player.

However, a prior report from The Daily Mirror stated Liverpool came ‘so close’ to signing Zielinski ahead of the 2016/17 season.

Ultimately, Zielinski would go on to join Napoli that summer, while Liverpool would subsequently sign Georginio Wijnaldum from Newcastle.

Latest Man Utd and Liverpool transfer news

In other news, Liverpool and Man Utd are both showing interest in signing left-back Alvaro Carreras Fernandez.

Man Utd sold the defender to Benfica over the summer, though his impressive early form in Portugal is prompting talk of a quickfire return to England. The ball is in Man Utd’s court through the presence of a buy-back clause.

Elsewhere, Bayern Munich are NOT in the running to sign Alisson Becker in 2025. Per Sky Germany’s Florian Plettenberg, Bayern’s goalkeeping plan is to offer Manuel Neuer a new contract before Alexander Nubel takes his spot in 2026.

Finally, Erik ten Hag has reportedly determined Harry Maguire is surplus to requirements. A January sale will now be sought and bids as small as £10m will be considered.

READ MORE: Ranking every player Erik ten Hag has signed for Man Utd from worst to best