Yevhen Konoplyanka was disappointed when Liverpool’s senior brass traveled to the Ukraine in 2014 in an attempt to sign him, but they returned without him.
There is always going to be one transfer acquisition that slips through the cracks. The recent pursuit of Jude Bellingham, which took place before the signings of Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai, had Liverpool fans feeling it. When the Reds attempted to sign Yevhen Konoplyanka in the January 2014 transfer window, that was unquestionably the situation.
When Liverpool contacted the winger, he had previously won the Ukrainian Football Player of the Year award three times. The Reds’ next aim came into focus after their initial target, a certain FC Basel player by the name of Mohamed Salah, decided to join Chelsea. He was working for Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk and had a £16 million buy-out provision in his contract, which Liverpool was willing to match.
The president of Dnipro, Ihor Kolomoyskyi, flatly refused to approve the sale since he didn’t want to lose his top player, which proved to be a very significant roadblock to the deal’s completion.
I was crying,” Konoplyanka admitted to Weszlo. A serious delegation from Liverpool visited Dnipropetrovsk. We had supper. They were prepared to pay whatever Ihor Kolomoyskyi, the owner of the Dnipro, demanded.
We are waiting for you, Martin Skrtel wrote in a message to me. I received OK from Steven Gerrard as well. I used to travel to Kolomoyskyi and beg to be allowed to leave. My wish will be fulfilled because of it. I pleaded. Liverpool made a 25 million euro (£18 million) offer. However, I didn’t feel let down by choosing to travel to Sevilla instead.
Despite doing all in their power to secure their man, Liverpool CEO Ian Ayre and his party ultimately returned empty-handed from the Ukraine.
Dnipro CEO Andriy Stetsenko provided his perspective in a separate interview with Tribuna. “A specific amount was assigned for Konoplyanka, whom Liverpool wanted to buy,” he stated. The British team pushed hard until the very end to get him. Then, for the last round of talks, their officials took a private plane to arrive at our location. If things went well, Konoplyanka was intended to take off with them.
“(Liverpool) did not concur with the number requested. Maybe they felt a private jet would make a statement. That demonstrated the seriousness of their goals. (But Dnipro) opted against a price cut. Liverpool took off with nothing as a result.
Konoplyanka eventually joined Spanish club Sevilla the following summer after the agreement fell through. He was a member of the Sevilla team that defeated Liverpool in the 2015–16 UEFA Europa League final at the St. Jakob-Park in Basel, 3–1. Salah, the Reds’ original aim, was eventually brought in and has since gone on to become a legend at Anfield, but Konoplyanka, 33, is currently a free agent after extending his career in Poland with Cracovia.
