Scotland captain Andy Robertson has revealed he came close to signing for Stoke City before joining Liverpool in the summer of 2017.
Robertson has emerged as a key figure under Jurgen Klopp since moving to Anfield from Hull City in an £8 million deal, displacing Alberto Moreno from the starting XI and making 31 appearances in all competitions last season as Liverpool finished fourth in the Premier League and reached the Champions League final.
But the 24-year-old says his career almost took a different path when Stoke, then under the management of Mark Hughes, expressed an interest in signing him.
“Stoke were quite interested in me,” Robertson said in an interview with YouTube football channel Open Goal. “Mark Hughes had liked me and I think there was a wee bit of chat with them.
“So I was thinking they were a really good option; I think they finished top 10 that season and I was trying to get my head on a move to Stoke.
“I was thinking they were really keen, and at that point under Mark Hughes they were playing good football. They had Erik Pieters; I wasn't sure if I was going in as back-up to him as he was flying that season.”
Robertson arrived at Liverpool to little fanfare and made an underwhelming start to life at Anfield, appearing in just 10 of the club’s 30 matches in all competitions between August and December and only beginning to establish himself as a regular starter during the festive period.
“I don’t think it was down to fitness,” he added. “It was down to my understanding. It took me a while to get used to the way he [Klopp] was playing.
“I played my first game against Crystal Palace and I got Man of the Match. But even when I look back on that now, the way I played that game is completely different to the way he wanted me to play.
“He was happy with me that game, I walked off the pitch thinking ‘I’ve just done well there’, but now when I look at the way I play and the way he wants me to play, that game I didn’t do it.”
