Everton flop once linked with shock Liverpool transfer scores wonder goal at Copa America

Liverpool will be keeping a close eye on the Copa America — not only to monitor its current crop of stars, but to have a look at any transfer opportunities. It turns out it has already previously considered the scorer of the tournament's latest wondergoal .

It's been a fruitful competition for the Reds so far. Alisson and Darwin Nunez face off in a quarter-final tonight, Luis Diaz is also at the quarter-final stage with Colombia, and Alexis Mac Allister is already through to the semi-finals with Argentina after defeating Moises Caicedo and Ecuador .

But Mac Allister could easily have been playing Venezuela instead. One of the tournament's surprise packages, it won all of its group games against Ecuador, Jamaica and Mexico to finish top, earning a theoretically more favorable quarter-final against Canada.

READ MORE: Liverpool transfer news LIVE: Anthony Gordon hope, Teun Koopmeiners claim, Federico Chiesa bargain
READ MORE: Liverpool owner John Henry took matters into his own hands after discovering new investment chance

In the end, this is where the Copa America dream came to an end. Venezuela lost, but not before taking it all the way to penalties, having netted a truly outstanding equalizer. Canada went ahead inside the first 15 minutes. But Venezeula, who enjoyed slightly more possession, continued to knock on the door, and made the breakthrough in stunning fashion just past the hour mark.

The scorer will be familiar to Everton. But he's also known to Liverpool, after the Reds twice looked at completing a transfer. Salomon Rondon moved to Goodison Park in 2021. He lasted just 18 months before his contract was mutually terminated, in a spell that yielded a single league goal.

But way back in 2015, before Jurgen Klopp arrived, Liverpool was linked to Rondon, who was at Zenit at the time. Calcio News 24 claimed that the Reds had expressed an interest in the powerfully-built striker — they would go on to sign Christian Benteke that summer instead.

Two years later, now under Klopp, Liverpool again had a look at Rondon, per Empire of the Kop . By this point, he had made a bright start to Premier League life with West Bromwich Albion.

The move to Liverpool of course never materialized, but Rondon has gone on to enjoy some success elsewhere, even after the ill-fated Everton stint. His goal for Venezuela was a truly spectacular effort, half-volleyed over the goalkeeper from at least 40 yards out after a defender had been shrugged aside in typical fashion.

"What a goal! Even for his standards," screamed the Premier Sports commentator. Everton supporters might have questioned that line, but it goes to show the kind of reputation Rondon has forged away from Merseyside.

After 10 league goals in 31 league games with River Plate in Argentina, Rondon moved to Pachuca in Mexico. He's already netted 10 times there in just 21 appearances.

At 34, Rondon is entering the autumn years of his career. But he continues to show why Liverpool might have held an interest all those years ago.

Liverpool.com says: Fair play, that's a cracking goal. We've seen great volleys (or half-volleys, or however you want to define it), and we've seen great long-range strikes, but it's rare you witness the combination.

You'd have to ask questions of the goalkeeper's positioning, given that he only started to backpedal when Rondon unleashed the shot. But the flight of the ball was judged to perfection, leaving him totally stranded.

Had Liverpool signed Rondon, he probably would have managed a similar Anfield career to Benteke. The Belgian, of course, scored a wondergoal of his own, netting an incredible bicycle kick against Manchester United, but that was a high point in an underwhelming spell.