Liverpool, Paris Saint-Germain, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid and Barcelona were all interested in signing Manchester City winger Raheem Sterling before he agreed to join Chelsea, according to The Mirror.

The 27-year-old is expected to complete his switch to Stamford Bridge imminently, with the Blues said to be prepared to pay the player around £300,000 a week.

Whether Liverpool’s interest in Sterling was, in fact, serious, it seems unlikely. The player left the Mersyside club under a cloud in 2015 and he has never really been forgiven by supporters.

On top of that, manager Jurgen Klopp already has plenty of attacking options at his disposal, and spending £45m on another winger wouldn’t have made a great deal of sense.

Perhaps the England international’s name came under consideration before Mo Salah committed his long-term future to the club but, since the Egyptian signed a new contract, there would have been no need to strengthen the Reds’ options out wide.