Anderlecht whiz Jeremy Doku held talks with Liverpool two years ago, it has been revealed.

The parents of Doku have claimed the young Anderlecht star nearly signed for Liverpool in 2018.

His parents, speaking to Het Niewsblad, said: “At the age of 16 Jeremy could sign a pro contract with Anderlecht, but even then Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea, Man City, Ajax and PSV were interested.

“We then visited clubs like Liverpool and Ajax, but Stellar Group left us the choice.

“My (David, Doku's father) preference was Liverpool. How we were received there, damn!"

The couple added: “Trainer Klopp explained how he saw a potential successor to Sadio Mane in Jeremy. Steven Gerrard showed us videos with tactical analysis.

“At the training complex [Simon] Mignolet, [Sadio] Mane and [Georginio] Wijnaldum came to talk to us. Yet Jeremy was distracted by the talk.

“Van Holsbeeck (a former Anderlecht manager) was convinced that he would lose Jeremy almost for free to Liverpool and wanted to make the most of it.

“But Anderlecht did everything to keep our son. They handled it cleverly with that video of Romelu Lukaku. If Jeremy hesitated for a moment to leave, it took away the last doubt."