Manchester City goalkeeper Zack Steffen previously claimed Liverpool were interested in his services in a decade-old tweet which came to light during Saturday's FA Cup semi-final.
The 27-year-old found himself in the spotlight at Wembley Stadium after he was guilty of a calamitous error which gifted the Reds a goal. He lingered on the ball for too long in his own penalty area, allowing Sadio Mane to close him down and double the early lead Ibrahima Konate had given the Reds.
It proved to be an important moment during a dominant first-half display for Liverpool, with Mane further extending the lead with a fine volley just before the break. Steffen faced further criticism for being beaten at his near post by the Senegalese forward and eagle-eyed fans soon dug out an old social media post he made about the Anfield club.
Writing on Twitter in 2012 - when he was a young talent at the Philadelphia Union academy - the United States international said: "Liverpool FC wants to give me a trial." While Steffen claims to have been on the Reds' radar, he ended up joining the Maryland Terrapins and it was not until 2015 that he left his homeland to arrive on the European scene. The Pennsylvania native arrived at Freiburg and featured for the German club's second team before returning to the United States to play for Major League Soccer side Columbus Crew.
Steffen later moved to the Etihad for a fee in the region of £7million in 2019 and he has made 20 appearances for the Sky Blues. Just two of these have come in the Premier League but Pep Guardiola has trusted him with many duties in the domestic cup competitions. This decision may come under scrutiny in the wake of Steffen's costly error in the semi-final, which regular No. 1 Ederson watched from the substitutes' bench.
Was it a mistake to start Zack Steffen ahead of Ederson? Have your say in the comments!
Mane, meanwhile, had no doubt Liverpool forced the shot-stopper into his blunder with their high-pressing approach. "Today is special - we were playing one of the best teams in the world," the man of the match told BBC One. To win this kind of game, especially in a semi-final, is a big, big, big win.
"We were very pleased to win and qualify for the final. We started very well, everybody started on the front foot - for my first goal the goalkeeper made a mistake but I think we pushed him to make that mistake. That is our style and I think that made the difference."
