The Brighton star is one that got away for Dr. Ian Graham, who spoke about how many Albion players the Reds were targeting at one stage.
Liverpool did sign midfielder Aleixs Mac Allister from the Albion, who they beat 2-1 at Anfield this weekend.
“At Liverpool we admired both Brentford and Brighton’s signings, though we never told them that,” he wrote in his book, ‘How to Win the Premier League: The Inside Story of Football's Data Revolution.’
“Me and my colleague Daf Steele used to keep lists of players who looked outstanding in their domestic leagues but were either not quite good enough for Liverpool or played in a style that didn’t fit ours…
“Brighton also signed players on our radar. Pascal Gross performed at an above-average Premier League level while playing in the second division of the Bundesliga, and has played at that level for years for Brighton. Enock Mwepu was the best young midfielder in Austria…
“Marc Cucurella was easily a Premier League level player while playing in Spain, and when Chelsea paid a barely credible £62 million to sign him, Brighton immediately replaced him with the only young full-back in Spain who rated at a similar level, Pervis Estupinan.
“Kaoru Mitoma was the best player in Japan, rating above the Premier League average. It was very rare for us to rate a player in Japan anywhere near Premier League level.
“It’s still a source of regret to me that I didn’t insist that Mitoma be more seriously considered as a potential Liverpool signing.”