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Liverpool was willing to pay the $70 million (£51 million) release clause that was written into Martin Zubimendi's Real Sociedad contract a year ago, but the player performed a last-minute U-turn.
Now, he has moved to the Premier League with Arsenal, linking up with Mikel Arteta. Arne Slot's side, though it missed out on a good player, ended up winning the Premier League — and former winger Stewart Downing says it worked out for the best.
"By not signing Zubimendi, Liverpool have ultimately saved themselves a lot of money," Downing has told Flashscore. "But it’s a strange one that Zubimendi turned them down.
"Liverpool are a big club, but he didn’t want to come. Not a lot of players would turn that down, but he’s obviously had his reasons, and he’s gone to Arsenal.
"Now look at it, and Liverpool went on and won the league, while Arsenal are again sort of always on the cusp of winning something and not getting over the line. He’ll have his reasons. Maybe he wanted to live in London.
"Sometimes managers try things and think let's see how that goes. If it doesn't work, then we might have to sign someone. I think he went to Ryan Gravenberch and said I think you’re suited to play that position.
"It's easy to say that now he's done well, but he's thought we can get a player in, we haven't signed the player we want to sign, or we're going to have to try something different.
"Look at Dominik Szoboszlai too. He went in as a 10 at times, and he was normally an eight or whatever you want to call it, so he's tried different things, and they've come off for him.
"So Slot has taken the risk, seen how it’s gone, started winning some games, and now it looks like Gravenberch is probably the best option to play in that position for Liverpool.
"Sometimes we get bogged down in tactics and philosophies. I think if you speak to people behind the scenes quietly, they'll probably say I just chucked a player in to see how he did. If it failed, then we'd have to go back in the window."
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Arsenal and Zubimendi didn't particularly impress at Old Trafford on the opening weekend of the new Premier League season. The Gunners won by a Riccardo Calafiori goal to nil.
Explaining the decision to reject Liverpool, Zubimendi said it "wasn't the right time" to leave his boyhood club.
"It wasn't an easy time for me because I wanted to stay at Real, but when offers come in, you start thinking about your options," he said, via ESPN.
"The first question I had to answer was whether I wanted to leave Real, and it wasn't the right time. I felt that Real offered me more opportunities and that I still had a lot to learn, so staying at Real was the best decision for me."
Liverpool.com says: Zubimendi is a very good player, but Gravenberch has excelled under Slot. He was very much missed against Bournemouth when the Liverpool midfield was left wide open.
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