Kasimpasa winger Anil Koc has revealed that he was close to signing a five-year contract with Liverpool only to change his mind to join Standard Liege, a decision he still thinks about to this day.
Koc was a highly rated talent in the youth ranks at Belgian giants Anderlecht and had a number of Europe's elite chasing his services when he was just 16 years old.
He admits that he visited Liverpool's legendary Melwood training base and was hugely impressed, with the Reds planning to slot him into their Under-19s team.
Koc was ready to put pen to paper and headed back to Belgium to pick up his belongings; however, he then received an approach from Standard Liege, who promised to fast-track him into the first team.
He turned down Liverpool and accepted Standard Liege's offer, but still wonders what would have happened if he had headed to Anfield as his Standard Liege spell did not go according to plan.
"I played for Anderlecht for about ten years", Koc was quoted as saying by Turkish daily Hurriyet.
"By the time I was 16, I was wanted by teams such as Paris Saint-Germain, Liverpool and Borussia Dortmund.
"I sat down with my family and chose Liverpool. I went to Liverpool.
"I visited Melwood. I saw everything and liked it. I was going to play with the 19s. They were offering me a pathway that could lead to the senior team.
"I was going to sign a five-year contract. We agreed on everything.
"I returned to Belgium to collect my belongings.
"Meanwhile, Standard Liege called. They said that if I signed, I would immediately go to the first team. They offered me a very good project.
"The conditions were almost the same, both materially and sportingly. We chose Standard Liege.
"It was good at first. But then there was a managerial change and I started to have problems. The new manager did not want me and I went out on loan.
"Sometimes, I regret that I did not join Liverpool. Maybe everything could have been different."
Koc joined Kasimpasa in January this year and had three tastes of Turkish Super Lig action before the season was suspended, featuring against Galatasaray, Ankaragucu and Alanyaspor.
