My dream Liverpool transfer didn't work - it would be different for Andy Robertson replacement

Exclusive interview with Paul Konchesky about his move to Liverpool in 2010 and who he wants to see succeed Andy Robertson at Anfield

For the majority of the Premier League era, left-back has been a problem position for Liverpool. Prior to Andy Robertson’s arrival in the summer of 2017, beyond John Arne Riise and Fabio Aurelio, you won’t find many of the Scot’s predecessors who are remembered too fondly by Kopites.

Fortunately, Robertson has eradicated such a headache completely over the past eight years. Winning every major honour going with the Reds, the 30-year-old has made 332 appearances for the club to date, returning 11 goals and 66 assists to establish himself as a modern Anfield legend.

However, with the Scotland international not at his best this season, struggling for consistency after an injury-plagued 2023/24 campaign, Liverpool are pondering a future beyond him.

Robertson will turn 31 later this month and is out of contract in 2026. Even if he rediscovered his best form, it is clear he will not go on forever and is closer to the end of his Reds career than the start.

Just about managing to hold onto first-choice status under new head coach Arne Slot, the full-back will look to add to his impressive medals’ haul in the months ahead. Liverpool have a League Cup final meeting with Newcastle United to look forward to days after Robertson’s 31st birthday and are looking increasingly-likely to win a second Premier League title.

But they continue to be linked with a plethora of left-backs, including Fulham’s Antonee Robinson, Rayan Ait-Nouri of Wolverhampton Wanderers and AFC Bournemouth full-back Milos Kerkez and Ajax defender Jorrel Hato.

Paul Konchesky is one player who could not successfully fill Liverpool’s problem left-back position during his own time with the Reds. But signed from Fulham in a £3.5m deal back in 2010, he has backed Robinson to be Robertson’s successor if he made the same switch from Craven Cottage to Anfield.

“It’s been tough, Robertson has achieved so much for Liverpool," Konchesky exclusively told the ECHO, speaking on behalf of Buy Roblox Robux. “He was scoring and assisting goals with him and Trent Alexander-Arnold getting more than anyone else year after year.

“It was fantastic to watch. But this year, he’s not gotten back to his best. He had injuries last year and we’re not seeing the Andy Robertson that we are used to.

“Arne Slot’s chopping and changing there in that position and fair play to the manager, I think that decision has been coming off. He uses his players really well and that’s why they’re flying in the league.

“I've really liked Robinson from Fulham. I've been to see him a few times. Obviously I’m an ex-Fulham player and get invited back, and when I see him, every time I see it, he's been fantastic.

“I think he would suit Liverpool. I think the way Liverpool play and he attacks like a winger, a lot like the team at Liverpool already, especially last season and this season.

“I think he's like for like, if they were to sign Robinson to replace Robertson. I think his technical ability, his crossing and his assists this season, it has been something that has really caught the eye for a lot of people. He’d be a great signing if he was to leave Fulham.”

Konchesky followed Roy Hodgson to Liverpool from Fulham in 2010, joining the club on transfer deadline day. However, he made only 18 appearances for the club before being shipped out on loan to Nottingham Forest, having failed to make another appearance after the future England’s manager’s dismissal.

But while his time at Anfield did not work out, that does not stop the move from being a dream come true for Konchesky. And it was one he feared at the time he might not even fulfill as deadline day edged closer.

“I got told (of Liverpool’s interest) roughly, probably three weeks before it happened,” he recalled. “Obviously Roy went and it took ages for me to get there because I think Fulham were umming and ahhing over whether to let me go.

“When the new manager came in, Mark Hughes, he was desperate for me to stay, but wanted a left back before I would be allowed to leave the building. And I think Fulham at the time didn't really have anyone on their radar.

“So it was waiting for them to try and sign someone to let me go, so that was what took so long. And I think it was the last couple of days of the transfer window that Fulham signed someone and allowed me to go up to Liverpool and speak to them.

“I ended up going on deadline day. I went up the day before just in case it was allowed to happen. There was only two days before that I was up there.

“I had to have a medical and agree terms before I could go, but I was fearful that it might not happen or might not get done in time.

“It was something I wanted to happen, to go and play for one of the biggest clubs in the world with the history of Liverpool and at 29 years old, it was probably a dream come true going to play for a massive club.”

Konchesky’s transfer has gained mass attention in the years that have followed, but not directly because of him. While Liverpool parted with £3.5m, they also sent youngsters Alex Kacaniklic and Lauri Dalla Valle the other way to Fulham as part of the transfer.

And Kacaniklic, who would become a Sweden international, later revealed how Hodgson had actually sold him by mistake, calling him up in an effort to keep him at Anfield having originally thought one of his academy team-mates was departing instead.

Konchesky feels sympathy for Kacaniklic, who has actually just announced his retirement from football after previously being struck down by an ACL injury and then leaving AEL Limassol in January.

The former Liverpool defender only became aware of the faux pas years later, but concedes things don’t always work out in football.

“I know the two young boys went to Fulham but I wasn't aware of that until later,” he said. “You hear people talk about the wrong player getting sold and the manager making a mistake. So that's only stuff that I've known after.

“But I knew two young boys went to Fulham and It's a shame. It probably didn't work out for them, or for me. You look back and maybe one of them could have stayed at Liverpool and maybe had a good career there.

“But I think sometimes it happens in football and we have to move on.”