Nat Phillips came close to moving to America, former Reds goalkeeper Andy Lonergan has revealed.
Injuries have allowed the 24-year-old to stake his claim in the Liverpool first-team this season, having made 14 appearances across all competitions.
And his former teammate Lonergan, who left Anfield for Stoke last summer, says Phillips was mulling a move to MLS.
Lonergan told the Liverpool Echo: "It's well-documented he was pretty close to leaving on loan in the summer.
"For the month where he came back from his loan from Stuttgart, I was picking him up and driving him to training so we got talking and I think it was pretty much decided it was probably best for him to go and get games somewhere.
"So for him to go from one foot out the door, albeit temporarily, to where he is now is a great story and one he fully deserves.
"I remember in America he had a few loan options and when he was telling me who they were, I was thinking he was better than that. I didn't think they were great clubs for him to go to.
"Liverpool have got a plan for every player and the plan was to get Nat into a team that would improve his footballing abilities rather than his raw defending. He went to Germany to Stuttgart and really enjoyed it.
"Then he got the great opportunity to come back and play in the FA Cup against Everton. I think one of his first challenges, he absolutely smashed someone on the halfway line and the crowd went mad. It was like, "Welcome. Welcome, Nat!"
"And now he's got this opportunity. It's surprising the way he's got into the team because Nat would have never expected all the injuries to have happened. He's probably surprised he got his chance to play in all these games.
"I'm surprised at the amount of injuries that have led to him getting his chance. It's pretty obvious that if Joe, Virgil or Joel were fit, they'd play.
"But I am not surprised by how he has performed at all. I'm not surprised at how well he has done. There's no real weakness in Nat. There's no real weakness in many Liverpool players to be honest!"
