“He said ‘You could have been playing there if you hadn’t done your knee’.”
David Meyler has revealed how he could have signed for Liverpool in 2011 if he had not sustained a serious knee injury.
The former Republic of Ireland midfielder, who was playing for Sunderland at the time, was rated highly by then Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish.
After Liverpool won the Champions League in 2019, the Scot told Meyler that he was on his radar several years previously.
David Meyler on how Kenny Dalglish wanted to sign him for Liverpool.
Dalglish was Liverpool’s manager for a second time between 2011 and 2012 and he was looking for up-and-coming talent to sign for the club.
Liverpool’s scouts went to the Stadium of Light to watch Sunderland in action, and keep an eye on Jordan Henderson, who signed for the Reds ahead of the 2011/12 season.
Meyler also impressed the Liverpool scouts and he came onto Dalglish’s radar. The Corkman, however, suffered a cruciate injury in January 2011, and missed the next 10 months of football, thus scuppering any chance of joining the club he supported growing up.
“At the time, when I broke into Sunderland’s first team, Kenny Dalglish was the manager of Liverpool. Basically, they were looking for young talent,” Meyler told SportsJOE at the Spar FAI Primary School 5s National Finals.
“They were there to watch Jordan Henderson, and I think I caught someone’s eye, having played particularly well. I suffered a cruciate ligament injury, so then obviously I was out for 8 months, 9 months.”
Meyler: Kenny Dalglish told me he wanted to me for Liverpool.
Meyler met Dalglish in 2019 in Madrid after Liverpool won their sixth Champions League. The Liverpool legend told Meyler that if he had not sustained the serious knee injury, the Reds were interested in potentially signing him.
“Years later, I met Kenny after Liverpool won the Champions League against Spurs, and he said, ‘Ah you could have been playing there if you hadn’t done your knee.’ But look, who knows,” Meyler said.
“I was a young lad playing in the Premier League, I think was 20 at the time and Liverpool were looking at up-and-coming talent. I was spotted as one, and look it never happened so.”
Meyler battled back from his knee injury and went on to play for Hull City for six years, helping the Tigers win promotion to the Premier League and reach the FA Cup final in 2014, where they lost to Arsenal after extra-time.
The Corkman, who retired in 2019 aged 30, also represented Ireland 26 times and captained the team for a famous win over Wales in Cardiff in 2017.
The SPAR FAI Primary School 5s National Finals took place in AVIVA Stadium on Tuesday, May 17, where former Republic of Ireland International David Meyler and current Republic of Ireland women’s footballer, Louise Quinn were in attendance supporting as girls and boys from 28 schools took to the field in a day that they will never forget. The 2022 SPAR FAI Primary School 5s Programme returned in physical form this year and saw an incredible 56,212 students involved from 1,081 schools
