Eusebio Mango Fernandes had three meetings with Liverpool about his son, Sporting Lisbon winger Joelson Fernandes, according to Odemocratagb.com.

The website reports that the Reds bid around €3million (£2.75m) for the 17-year-old and they were promising the player game time as Sadio Mane’s understudy before the player opted to stay in Portugal.

Fernandes was being targeted by a host of top European clubs, with Arsenal reportedly tabling a €20m (£18m) bid, Paris Saint-Germain offering €5m (£4.6m) and Manchester City making a €4.5m (£4.1m) proposal for the winger.

However, the teenager signed a new three-year deal with Sporting instead and he now has a €60m (£55m) release clause, which a club will need to meet before a transfer can go ahead.

After being turned down by Joelson, it seems Liverpool then switched their attention to his fellow countryman, Diogo Jota, who joined the Reds from Wolves for £41m just nine days after the Sporting forward put pen to paper on a new contract.