There are reports in England that Liverpool came close to signing Chelsea star Emerson Palmieri instead of Andrew Robertson in 2017.

The Reds forked out £8million to sign the Scottish defender from Hull – but considered a swoop for the Italian star instead.

The Athletic claim that Jurgen Klopp was closely monitoring Palmieri before he completed a deal for Robertson.

Palmieri had attracted a wide range of interest across Europe after making 25 Serie A appearances during the 2016/17 season for Roma.

But injury struck the defender on the final day of the campaign, so Liverpool were forced to focus their attention elsewhere, report The Sun.

Chelsea went on to sign the former Santos star for £17.6million in January 2018.