‘Pretty close’: Former Red explains how current star almost left the club | OneFootball

Former Liverpool goalkeeper Andy Lonergan has revealed that Nat Phillips was ‘pretty close’ to leaving the club last summer.

Lonergan claims Phillips was set to go out on loan in order to get regular game time and says the centre-back was speaking to him about MLS options he had to choose from.

The shot-stopper admits that he thought Phillips was better than the clubs he was potentially ready to go and play for, although he has not mentioned any names specifically.

Speaking to the Liverpool Echo, Lonergan opened up on Phillips’ transfer dilemma last year. “It’s well-documented he was pretty close to leaving on loan in the summer.

“For the month where he came back from his loan from Stuttgart, I was picking him up and driving him to training so we got talking and I think it was pretty much decided it was probably best for him to go and get games somewhere.

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“So for him to go from one foot out the door, albeit temporarily, to where he is now is a great story and one he fully deserves.

“I remember in America he had a few loan options and when he was telling me who they were, I was thinking he was better than that. I didn’t think they were great clubs for him to go to.

ANFIELD WATCH VERDICT

Phillips may have been on the fringes back when that transfer was on the cards, but he is now a legitimate star in this Liverpool team. Whether or not that will continue beyond the end of this season remains to be seen, but he has been one of the club’s best players in recent months. Sadio Mane is the only player in the entire Liverpool squad with a higher average WhoScored rating than Phillips in the Premier League, with Phillips’ 7.09 rating 0.03 ahead of Mo Salah and 0.05 ahead of Roberto Firmino.

This suggests that he has been Liverpool’s second-most consistent player in the Premier League this season, albeit he has only played 12 games to date. In all competitions, Phillips has started 12 matches and averaged a WhoScored rating of 7.12 in those games, highlighting his impact in both the Premier League and the Champions League as a starter at centre-back.

His performances for Liverpool, and his importance to the team, this season shows that it was a great decision not to allow him to leave the club. Lonergan does not reveal how the deal, which was seemingly close, fell through, but Jurgen Klopp could be thankful that he has Phillips to call upon at the moment.