LIVERPOOL reportedly tried to axe Darwin Nunez for Portuguese star Joao Felix in a shock swap transfer with Atletico Madrid.
But Felix had his heart set on joining Barcelona and turned down the offer from the Reds.
Manchester United are also said to have been keen.
Felix, 23, signed for Barca on deadline day and was in floods of tears at his unveiling after sealing his dream move.
That's despite the forward, who joined Atletico in 2019 for a record fee of £113m from Benfica, only joining on loan, with no option to buy.
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Felix burst onto the scene with 15 goals in 25 appearances for the Portuguese side as a teenager.
Felix has failed to live up to his mammoth fee in the Spanish capital.
He has scored just 25 goals in 96 appearances and had an underwhelming loan spell at Chelsea last season.
Nevertheless, according to the Spanish outlet Mundo Deportivo, the Portuguese star had many admirers, especially Liverpool.
And they say Jurgen Klopp was even willing to trade in his own £85m striker Nunez to seal a deal.
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The 24-year-old joined the Reds last year from Felix's boyhood club Benfica.
He made 42 appearances last season and scored 15 goals last season.
But Nunez showed fans a glimpse of his destructive best with a match-winning late double against Newcastle two weeks ago.
The report claims Liverpool was not alone in signing Felix as United and Aston Villa were keen to recruit the forward.
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Saudia Arabia also tried to take their chances as Al-Hilal sounded out a deal to link him up with Neymar.
The report added Felix swiftly declined all teams with the same reply: "No, thank you, I want to go to Barca and I'm going to wait for you."
