Out-of-favour Lyon goalkeeper Anthony Lopes (33) has been approached by Liverpool FC during last summer’s transfer window, L’Equipe can reveal. The 33-year-old Lyon academy graduate has been transfer-listed by Les Gones as he was entering his final contract year. The Portugal international has fallen down the goalkeepers’ hierarchy and is not expected to play a single minute with his formative club this season. “I believe that I am not part of the hierarchy anymore. I am in the place I was given, which is to say none”, Lopes said in an interview with the outlet.
Brazilian shot-stopper Lucas Perri, who joined the Ligue 1 side last winter, has taken the mantle as Lyon’s last line of defense and Lopes was reportedly kept in the dark regarding the club’s intention to make Perri the No. 1 goalie at his expense. “No one warned me that my place was in question. Nobody told me anything clear in January. I prefer to set the record straight at this point.”
Once it became clear that Lopes was no longer welcome on the club he featured 489 times for, the 33-year-old goalkeeper intended to sign for a team for which he would be the undisputed starter between the sticks. “The opportunities unfortunately did not arrive. Clubs were interested in a starting goalkeeper, but on the condition that their No. 1 left, which was not the case.” The outlet states that Alban Lafont’s Nantes were one of them.
When asked if major foreign clubs were looking to acquire his services as a No. 2 goalie, Lopes confirmed that a “massive European club” made contact with him early in the summer. L’Equipe understands this team was Liverpool FC, with Caoimhin Kelleher’s future at Anfield uncertain at the time. The Reds reportedly rejected bids for the Ireland international and Lopes did not go further as he was still targeting a starting spot. “But had this occurred at the end of the transfer window, maybe my choice would have been different.“
GFFN | Bastien Cheval
