'I was stupid to join Liverpool – I flopped but I was never given a real chance'

Liverpool have signed two players from Sporting Lisbon in the past, with both failing to make any sort of impact at Anfield, and Tiago Ilori even called his transfer "stupid"

Liverpool's past signings from Sporting Lisbon haven't always worked out, with Joao Carlos Teixeira's £830k move in 2012 being a prime example.

Despite being hailed as the 'New Deco', his time at Liverpool was marred by injuries and underwhelming loan spells, eventually leaving the club in 2016. Liverpool received £250k when Teixeira moved to FC Porto after making only eight appearances and scoring once for the Reds. This was still more impact than another player from Sporting Lisbon who joined Anfield.

In August 2013, former manager Brendan Rodgers made a double deadline day swoop, landing Mamadou Sakho from Paris Saint-Germain for £18m and 20-year-old Tiago Ilori in a £7m deal from Sporting Lisbon. Rodgers believed he had secured the Reds' defence for the next decade.

Via the Liverpool Echo, Rodgers said at the time: "I wanted to try to protect the present and the future of the club," and "Centre-halves are so hard to find. You look at some teams and they have ageing centre-halves because it is a struggle to get a really good one."

He added: "We were fortunate in that two became available, one that we had been tracking for a year in Tiago Ilori, a young talent but who can be a big talent."

Describing Ilori, Rodgers said: "He is 6' 3", super quick, power, can jump, and he just needs to adapt to the pace and physicality of the Premier League. He is one for the future, but he can be a really big talent." And about Sakho, Rodgers stated: "Sakho is 23 but he is an experienced player. He has senior international caps and looks an absolute monster in training. He is one who is ready for now and that is what we want."

Rodgers concluded: "We had a chance to do that and protect the club for maybe the next ten years and that is what we have done." But Rodgers' high hopes for Sakho didn't pan out as expected. The Frenchman's turbulent time at Anfield ended with a £26m move to Crystal Palace in August 2017, after making 80 appearances over four years.

Ilori, who was highly thought of before joining Liverpool, never played under Rodgers despite the manager's claims of tracking him for a year. After his move to Anfield, he was loaned to Granada and Bordeaux, making a total of 24 appearances. "I want to play for Liverpool," Ilori stated in August 2015, "I don't want to be in Liverpool just to be sitting around."

"My objective is the same as every other player, we all want to play so everyone's going to fight for their place. I joined Liverpool two seasons ago to play for Liverpool, that is my number one objective so I'm going to do everything to make that happen." He was loaned out to Aston Villa but didn't get a chance to play before being recalled in January 2016.

Liverpool manager Klopp even admitted he didn't know Ilori was a Reds player. "When I first came here I didn't know he was an LFC player to be honest. Of course not, he was at Aston Villa," he said.

But Klopp did see potential in Ilori after learning about him. "We got him here and you see then the potential. That's good but they have all to learn, all to improve but they gave the sign but it is one sign." Ilori made his debut against Exeter City in the FA Cup, and his final appearance was against West Ham United in the fourth round.

The player opened up about his hopes to join Klopp's squad, saying after a match: "I've had a few chances to play which is great. I always thought there could be a future here. That's why I signed for Liverpool in the first place. I just try and work hard every day." He also mentioned the importance of playing together as a team, adding: "Players get experience by playing. I played alongside Lucas and he didn't look at me and think: 'he's not as experienced' and I didn't look at him and think: 'he's the most experienced player'."

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"We all play together, we train together every day and we're a team. There are a lot of good players at Liverpool for me to learn from. I just take it step by step." Despite his potential, Klopp did not include him in his plans, and he was sold to Reading for £3.75m in January 2018, never having played in the Premier League. At Reading, he made 64 appearances over two years.