Liverpool probed the possibility of signing Nice winger Allan Saint-Maximin before taking Xherdan Shaqiri to Anfield in the summer.
The 21-year-old has started the season in fine fashion in France, scoring two goals in Nice’s opening five league games and is expected to play a key role until the end of the campaign.
However, Nice had to work hard to keep hold of the player during the summer as a number of clubs took notice of his performance during his first year with the Ligue 1 outfit.
Sevilla and Newcastle United tabled offers to sign him and it has been claimed that another Premier League bigwig considered taking him to England during the window.
According to French daily the Nice-Matin, Liverpool got in touch with Nice to enquire about the possibility of signing Saint-Maximin, but it appears they were informed he was not available.
Liverpool eventually signed Shaqiri from Stoke and likely would have had to pay a larger fee to change Nice's mind.
However, Nice defender Dante is keen to manage expectations around the winger and stressed that he needs to do more to reach the highest level.
He said: “We expect a lot from him and that is normal.
“He is very young. If he works hard he will reach the highest level.
“But for the moment he has played just two good games out of 38.”
The winger will only have a year left on his contract with Nice next summer.
