Alisson is expected to stay at Liverpool this season despite interest from Saudi Arabia, with the club avoiding any risk of unrest with a key decision over staff.
With a number of clubs in the Saudi Pro League seeking a new goalkeeper this summer, Alisson was earmarked as a high–profile target.
But the 31-year-old is believed to be happy on Merseyside, with two Brazil team-mates heading to the Middle East instead – Bento joining Al-Nassr and Man City‘s Ederson now likely to join Al-Ittihad.
It could have been much different had Liverpool opted to move goalkeeping coach Claudio Taffarel on, however, after a major reshuffle of staff this summer.
Speaking to The Football Historian Podcast, the club’s departed head of goalkeeping John Achterberg – who left this summer along with assistant Jack Robinson – hinted that Alisson would have left if Taffarel had.
“It’s a good thing to do,” Achterberg said of his move to join Steven Gerrard‘s staff at Al-Ettifaq.
“In the end, it was the right thing as well, because obviously Liverpool wanted to change the whole department basically.
“They were smart to at least keep Taffarel, because if they would also change Taffarel, they probably would have told Ali to find a new club basically.
“You have to be smart as well. It’s good, because Taffa’s a really good guy and it’s perfect that he’s there for them.”
Achterberg’s decision to take up his role in Saudi Arabia came after Jurgen Klopp‘s resignation, with the Dutchman aware that his contract was due to expire this summer and eager to explore his options.
But Alisson also pushed to keep him at the club, as the 53-year-old explained.
“Ali wanted me to stay, he wanted to keep the whole department,” Achterberg continued.
“The first day [Klopp’s news] went out was a shock for everyone, and Ali said ‘yeah John, but I don’t want to change anything, I want to keep everything’.
“‘I understand’, I said, but when this happened, my contract was finished at the end of the season and I didn’t want to gamble on it, if you like, and hope and see what would happen.”
After talks with Fenway Sports Group president Mike Gordon, Achterberg was resolved to move.
“I told Ali, ‘yeah I have the chance to do this new job’. Ali asked me to really wait with it, if I could, because he wanted to keep me,” he explained.
“But I had the family in the house pretty early with the offer, we talked, obviously I’m joining Stevie, and I said ‘I like the idea as well, to do that’.
“He asked me to help make a goalkeeper department and try to improve the goalies. It’s a good adventure, to try creating Saudi goalies.”
Taffarel joined Liverpool in November 2021, on recommendation of Alisson himself, with Achterberg suggesting that this was stipulated in the new contract the club’s No. 1 agreed that same year.
