{"id":405286,"date":"2026-02-03T08:36:10","date_gmt":"2026-02-03T08:36:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/405286\/"},"modified":"2026-02-03T08:36:10","modified_gmt":"2026-02-03T08:36:10","slug":"liverpool-made-me-an-offer-on-transfer-deadline-day-but-i-turned-them-down","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/405286\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Liverpool made me an offer on transfer deadline day \u2013\u00a0but I turned them down\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

While most footballers may jump at the chance to join a club of Liverpool’s magnitude, one star turned down a January approach from the Reds<\/p>\n

Tom Sunderland Sports Writer<\/p>\n

06:00, 03 Feb 2026<\/p>\n

\"Kai<\/p>\n

Lyon defender Duje Caleta-Car (currently on loan at Real Sociedad) turned down the chance to join Liverpool(Image: David Price\/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Defender Duje Caleta-Car is one of the few players who can say he spurned Liverpool<\/a>‘s advances in recent years. There aren’t many who will have turned down the opportunity to join this modern Reds squad, but Caleta-Car did just that as he remained loyal to his employers<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The January transfer deadline has passed, leaving Liverpool to count their options for the remainder of the season. Arne Slot’s side had a quiet winter window compared to the cacophony of new faces that arrived in the summer, though they did agree a \u00a360million deal to sign Rennes defender Jeremy Jacquet<\/a> at the end of this season.<\/p>\n

It was back in January 2021 that Liverpool also found themselves in the market for defensive reinforcements. Jurgen Klopp<\/a> was still in charge at the time and navigating through a raft of backline injuries, with Virgil van Dijk<\/a>, Joel Matip<\/a> and Joe Gomez<\/a> each out of commission at the time.<\/p>\n

That led Liverpool to enquire about the availability of Caleta-Car, who was a regular for Marseille at the time. However, the 2018 World Cup runner-up ultimately shunned the chance to join the reigning Premier League<\/a> champions and remain in the south of France instead.<\/p>\n

FOLLOW OUR LIVERPOOL FB PAGE! Latest Reds news and more on our dedicated Facebook page<\/a><\/p>\n

“I received an offer from Liverpool,” said the centre-back at the time. “It was an honour for me to know that such a club wanted me.<\/p>\n

“We decided with the club that I was going to stay. Marseille is also a great club, and I still have a lot of improving to do here.”<\/p>\n

READ MORE: Liverpool involved in transfer deadline day drama as deal ‘collapses’ after sudden U-turn<\/a>READ MORE: Liverpool transfer poised to COLLAPSE leaving Arne Slot’s plan for defence in tatters<\/a><\/p>\n

Liverpool turned their attentions elsewhere and completed the deadline day signings of Ben Davies from Preston<\/a> and Ozan Kabak from Schalke (on loan)<\/a>. Academy graduates Nat Phillips and Rhys Williams were also called on to play more senior roles that season.<\/p>\n

As fate would have it, Caleta-Car ended up remaining in France for another 18 months or so before moving to England anyway. He joined Southampton<\/a> on a four-year contract in the summer of 2022 but made just 19 appearances for the Saints as they were relegated in his first season at St. Mary’s.<\/p>\n

After finishing his only campaign with the Saints in 20th place, he returned to France in a loan move to Lyon. He then made that move permanent in 2024 and currently finds himself in Spain, leaving Lyon for another loan spell, this time at Real Sociedad.<\/p>\n

\"Gabriel<\/p>\n

Caleta-Car (right) had a forgettable stint at Southampton after joining in 2022(Image: David Price\/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

There’s no way of telling how Caleta-Car’s career may have panned out had he accepted Liverpool’s advances five years ago. The club has gone on claim two League Cups, an FA Cup<\/a> and a Premier League crown in Slot’s debut season since failing in their bid to sign the Croat.<\/p>\n

Fast forward to the present day, and Liverpool find themselves in a similar predicament as they search for defensive solutions. The Reds have failed to keep a clean sheet in any of their last four domestic matches, and Manchester United<\/a> are the only other members of the Premier League’s top seven who have conceded more goals so far this season.<\/p>\n

Sky Sports discounted Premier League and EFL package<\/p>\n

This article contains affiliate links, we will receive a commission on any sales we generate from it. Learn more<\/a>\"Content<\/p>\n

\u00a349<\/p>\n

\u00a335<\/p>\n

Sky<\/p>\n

Get the deal here<\/a><\/p>\n

Sky has slashed the price of its Essential TV and Sky Sports<\/a> bundle ahead of the 2025\/26 season, saving members \u00a3336 and offering more than 1,400 live matches across the Premier League, EFL and more.<\/p>\n

Sky will show at least 215 live Premier League games next season, an increase of up to 100 more.<\/p>\n

Much has been made of Virgil van Dijk’s perceived decline since signing a new two-year deal<\/a> last summer, while Ibrahima Konate looks destined to leave when his contract expires<\/a> in June. Youngster Giovanni Leoni had barely played before suffering a knee injury that may have ended his season already, while Gomez has been sidelined for periods this term.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"While most footballers may jump at the chance to join a club of Liverpool’s magnitude, one star turned…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":405287,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[1969,11400,59,2228,151136,2629,134,1767,18830,151135,85339,566,101,56,54,55,2225],"class_list":["post-405286","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-arne-slot","tag-footballblog","tag-gb","tag-joe-gomez","tag-joel-matip","tag-jurgen-klopp","tag-liverpool-fc","tag-liverpool-transfer-news","tag-lyon","tag-olympique-de-marseille","tag-real-sociedad","tag-southampton-fc","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom","tag-virgil-van-dijk"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/405286","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=405286"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/405286\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/405287"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=405286"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=405286"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=405286"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}