Piotr Zielinski was headed to Liverpool: Empoli President

Bengaluru, October 12: Liverpool came close to signing Napoli midfielder Piotr Zielinski in 2016 only to see the player snubbing a move towards England, according to the player's former club president Fabrizio Corsi.

Liverpool tracked the midfielder during his two-year loan stint at Empoli from Udinese while Jurgen Klopp was also said to have had a long interest in the player. During the 2016/17, it is believed that the German manager made the top most priority to land the youngster and the player was even photographed in a Liverpool shirt ahead of the campaign.

But sadly, his parent club Udinese then blocked the midfielder’s move to Merseyside and instead let him join Maurizio Sarri's Napoli for a fee of £14million.

That led Klopp to signing former Newcastle midfielder Gini Wijnaldum instead but some of the recent reports have again suggested that Klopp still admires the player and the German is looking at a way to land him at Anfield again.

Now reflecting on the rumours, the Emploi president, where the Poland international spent two years has claimed that the player should already be at Liverpool but Napoli then worked hard to negotiate their deal and eventually saw off the competition from the Premier League giants.

The Serie A club president said: "When he came to Naples, he had that option, but they did really well to convince him. I have a few regrets regarding him. He was decisive for us, but I didn’t ask for a ransom.

"I was working with Udinese’s interests in mind, who then had an agreement with Naples. It’s hard to deal with Giampaolo Pozzo [Udinese owner]. For me, he’s the best."

Zielinski has seen his reputation improve ever since his move to Naples where he has scored 15 goals in 96 appearances and now has become a vital cog in new manager Carlo Ancelotti's lineup. However, despite enjoying life with the Serie A giants, the midfielder's future continues to be a subject of transfer speculation.

The Naples based side are reportedly plotting to offer a new improved contract that would significantly increase his release clause, which currently stands at around £57million (€65m) however the player apparently is not too keen to prolong the deal, which has tempted Liverpool, Arsenal, and Juventus to name a few.