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Liverpool Were Close to Signing Son Heung-Min – Secret Transfer Deal Exposed

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Farah Ben Gamra | Last updated Aug 28, 2025 4:29 PM ET

Liverpool's former research director Ian Graham has just revealed one of the biggest what-ifs in recent club history: what if we had signed Son Heung-min before he joined Tottenham Hotspur?

On Running the Game, a new Men in Blazers series profiling football executives, Graham said Liverpool's data-driven recruitment team had identified both Roberto Firmino and SonHeung-Min as their top striker targets during Brendan Rodgers' time in charge. Firmino arrived, but Son got away - and we're left wondering what might have been.

The story fits into the well-documented clash between Liverpool's analytics department and Rodgers over transfers. In 2015 Rodgers pushed hard for Christian Benteke, despite warnings he wasn't the right fit.

Benteke lasted one season before being sold to Crystal Palace, while the recruitment team's preferred alternatives went elsewhere.

Son Heung-Min to Liverpool: Inside the transfer that almost happened

Reflecting on that period, Graham , who spent over a decade shaping Liverpool's data operation before leaving in 2023 , said:

"In an alternative timeline, Son and Firmino would be Liverpool's frontline. Firmino and Son were our one and two choices for strikers, but Son ended up going to Spurs and we got Christian Benteke instead."

When pressed on whether it was true, Graham admitted: "Yeah, yeah. A different style of player. Which is fine, the manager wanted that style at the time. Even at Spurs I loved him."

Son joined Tottenham from Bayer Leverkusen in 2015 and has since become one of the Premier League's most reliable forwards. With over 150 goals for Spurs and a Golden Boot in 2021–22, his success makes the missed opportunity even more painful for Liverpool fans.

Aside from Graham, Jurgen Klopp also admired Son. When he was at Borussia Dortmund, he would later admit that he regretted not signing the South Korean striker who eventually opted for Bayer Leverkusen.

Had things gone differently, Liverpool could have had Firmino and Son leading their attack in the mid-2010s before Salah and Mané became the preferred partners. Instead Son became a Spurs icon, while Liverpool had uneven results in Rodgers' final years.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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