Newcastle boss Eddie Howe concedes Liverpool beat them to the signing of Dominik Szoboszlai this summer.
The Hungary captain will face Newcastle later today with the Reds.
Howe said: "Yeah for sure we liked him.
"He's had a really good start to his career and is captain of his country from a young age. That tells you everything about his mentality. Very technical and yeah it would be quite an expensive purchase for us.
"So there's lots that go into every different transfer but he's certainly one that we liked."