Southampton goalkeeper Alex McCarthy has recalled coming close to joining Liverpool earlier in his career.

McCarthy, a Reading shot-stopper at the time, was a wanted man across the Premier League in 2014 and had played under then-Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers with the Royals.

"The move to QPR was strange because I'd worked with Brendan before at Reading and he wanted to bring me to Liverpool," explained McCarthy on the Yours, Mine, Away! Podcast.

"The morning I ended up going to QPR, I was about to get on the train to Liverpool but then I had Harry Redknapp call me."

McCarthy's proposed move to Liverpool had been to provide competition and support for first-choice goalkeeper Simon Mignolet.

"I knew at Liverpool I wasn't just going to go in and play, obviously he couldn't guarantee me any football," McCarthy admitted.

“But Harry Redknapp called me and obviously he knew about Liverpool and said there are definitely more opportunities to play here so it was a tough situation.

"Working with Brendan at Liverpool or Harry at QPR. I was stood at the train station with my dad and my agent going over it and over it and because I had been playing at Reading, I wanted to carry on playing so I ended up going to QPR and signing there.

"I'm a big believer that things always happen for a reason. It took me a while to get into the team and I when I did, I played against Liverpool and had to go off with a quad strain so I was out of the team again and Rob (Green) was doing well so it was a weird one.

"I had a chance to go to Liverpool but chose to go to QPR. I was there for a season, we got relegated and then I went to Crystal Palace."