Chelsea Star Disappointed Shakhtar Blocked Alex Teixeira’s Liverpool Move

In the end, money will have helped to make Alex Teixiera’s move to China a little easier, but we’ll never know what the Brazilian would have done if faced with the choice of moving to Liverpool for £100k a week before tax or to Jiangsu Suning for £150k after. That was never on the table. The choice was taking a lucrative offer here now or waiting for something that might never happen.

Former Shakhtar Donestk winger and fellow Brazilian Willian has some sympathy for Teixeira’s situation, and despite playing for one of Liverpool’s league rivals, he voiced his disappointment this week at Teixeira’s former club being unwilling to cut a deal to send the player to England. He also highlighted the uncertainty Teixeira would have been faced with had he decided to wait, uncertainty he lived with for two years at Shakhtar.

"They prefer to sell to small clubs that can afford a higher fee than selling them to traditional clubs that wouldn’t pay the same amount of money," the 27-year-old told Squawka this week when asked about the sudden spike in Brazilian talent moving to the Chinese Super League. "I know myself how difficult it is to negotiate with Shakhtar Donetsk. I suffered for two years there [trying] to leave the club."

Liverpool made an opening offer of £24.5M for Teixeira, talented and scoring a goal a game this season but without much of a track record as a top scorer. That at 26 years of age he had yet to make a single appearance for the senior Brazil team was another stumbling block, alongside his short track record as an elite scorer, to Liverpool or some other, more traditional club as Willian called them, paying the £38M Shakhtar wanted.

With add-ons, Liverpool are believed to have worked their offer up closer to £29M by the end, though. There were even reports they might go as high as £32M if pushed. Yet with Shakhtar unwilling to budge a cent off their valuation of the player—a valuation that had already scared Chelsea off in the autumn—there simply wasn’t a deal to be done. There was also no guarantee that things would have changed come the summer.

"I wish him all the best in China," added Willian. "I’m sure the financial aspect was crucial to his decision. He’s a very good player and could easily adapt to English football. I’d personally [have been] happy if he’d come to the Premier League or even to another big European club, as it would have increased his chances to play for the Selecao."