Rennes whizkid Jeremy Doku has revealed he spoke with Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal when he was a teenager.
Doku was with Anderlecht when his talent became known to clubs around Europe.
The Belgian said he spoke with a number of people from Liverpool, including Sadio Mane.
But Doku ultimately decided to stay with Anderlecht which lead to joining Rennes in October 2020.
"I was going to be 16 and that was the age you can sign a pro contract. A lot of teams came to see me," Doku told Ouest-France. "Everyone talks about Liverpool because it was the most concrete interest but there was also Arsenal and Chelsea.
"I was able to discuss with Jurgen [Klopp], Mane, [Georginio] Wijnaldum… [Steven] Gerrard too. I talked a lot with Mane but we didn't really talk about football. We talked about everything.
"He told me that I was young, that I still had time… he wasn't trying to convince me or to say to me 'come here, you will succeed'.
"I preferred to be careful. I know what my trajectory had to be. That's why, at 15, I told myself it had become serious, because I'd seen my career. I know what route I needed to take and I knew at that moment I needed to stay at Anderlecht.
"As soon as I'm asked if I regret it, I always say no, because if Liverpool came to me at 15, if they like me, they'll come back later, that's certain. It's up to me to be play well."
