Liverpool target opens up after transfer 'collapsed' just hours after first approach

Reported Liverpool transfer target Cesar Huerta has opened up on his failed move to Anfield over the summer.

The Mexican winger has claimed the transfer collapsed just "a few hours" after the Reds made their first approach to his club Pumas UNAM, having already revealed that he even had his "suitcase ready" before the move fell through "because of an issue".

Reports in Mexico last month stated that Huerta had been on the brink of sealing a permanent transfer to Liverpool , where he would have been sent out on a season-long loan to side Sunderland before linking up with Arne Slot's squad next summer.

• Premier League club 'to attempt Martin Zubimendi U-turn' after Liverpool transfer rejection
• Liverpool 'transfer target' scores four goals in one game to put FSG on notice

The Reds had been lured by the 23-year-old's 12 goals and nine assists last season and saw him as one for the future, yet the deal hit a snag after Sunderland's manager Regis Le Bris failed to give the green light, leaving Huerta to stay put in Mexico.

Huerta's contract is believed to be up at the end of the season and the left-winger has now spoken out on where his future lies following the collapse of what would have been a life-changing transfer.

Speaking to ESPN in Mexico, he said: “It didn’t move me at all, I’m very focused and I know that by doing things well, sooner or later a new opportunity will come.

“With Pumas we fight for the first place. There will be a lot of spotlight… to seek to consecrate myself here first with a title and in the long run the achievements will open doors for me. But first I think of Pumas, an institution that requires that concentration and one has to live up to it.”

Following the close of the summer transfer window, UNAM's president Luis Raul Gonzalez Perez shed some light on why the sale of Huerta didn't go ahead , stating it was purely down to "external circumstances".

“It had nothing to do with the club or his intention, on the contrary, they recognised the qualities of Huerta," Perez said. "External circumstances of the teams themselves that envisioned it could not materialize."

Huerta has begun the 2024-25 campaign with three goals and two assists in 10 Liga MX outings for UNAM, including a strike in Sunday's 1-1 draw with Toluca.

He also took his international caps tally to 11 with appearances against New Zealand and Canada last month, scoring against the former in a 3-0 win to grab his second goal for the senior side.

Huerta is capable of playing anywhere across the front three and should Liverpool wish to revisit a move in the January transfer window, it could cost it as little as $5.5million (£4.2m/€5m) to sign him, as per Transfermarkt , with his contract set to expire next summer.