Liverpool legend Phil Thompson believes Brendan Rodgers made a mistake in letting Alexis Sanchez join Arsenal last summer.
The Chilean international was heavily linked with a move to the Emirates, while the Reds were also interested in signing the forward when he was at Barcelona. The Catalan club wanted to sign Luis Suarez last summer.
Barcelona were willing to include Sanchez as a part of the deal in helping them sign Suarez. However, Sanchez turned down a chance to join the Merseyside club and signed for Arsenal, while the Uruguayan international was allowed to join the La Liga giants last summer.
The former Reds defender claims Brendan Rodgers should have blocked Suarez’s transfer to Barcelona, until they allowed Sanchez to make a switch to Anfield.
“The talk was that Liverpool had made a big bid for Sanchez. I wouldn’t have let Suarez get in the taxi to the airport if Sanchez hadn’t have already done the deal,” Thompson told Sky Sports.
“Liverpool were in the driving seat on this. They could have said to Suarez, ‘sorry, as much as you want it to go and it’s Barcelona, you are not going anywhere until he signs.’
“I know there were family issues and that’s why he went to London but I wouldn’t have let it (the Suarez transfer) happen,” he said.