The former Ajax man says Brendan Rodgers’ approach came too late as he has already decided to move to La Liga and sign a four-year deal with Atleti

Toby Alderweireld has revealed he turned down an approach from Liverpool before joining Atletico Madrid on Monday.

The 24-year-old had been linked with a number of sides during the close-season but opted to swap the Eredivisie for La Liga at the last minute and signed a four-year deal with Atletico.

Liverpool, though, secured defensive additions in the shape of Tiago Ilori and Mamadou Sakho, leaving the Belgian content with his decision.

“The club have been following me now for two or three weeks, and you could see they really wanted me,” he told reporters.

“That is why I turned down approaches from other teams. Liverpool, for example, appeared in the last few days, but I had already made my decision.

“The truth is that Atletico made a huge effort to convince me.”

Ilori and Sakho, who arrived from Sporting Lisbon and Paris Saint-Germain respectively, helped to bring Brendan Rodgers’ tally of new additions up to nine – with Chelsea star Victor Moses also completing a late loan move.