Liverpool midfielder Lucas Leiva has appears to have confirmed that there was definite interest in his services from multiple other clubs during the summer, but his employers at Anfield were seemingly unwilling to settle on a deal to allow him to leave.
The Brazilian, who made the switch to Merseyside back in 2007 and is the Reds' longest serving player, was heavily linked with a move to Galatasaray over the summer, while the likes of Serie A giant Inter has been mentioned as a possible destination in the past.
"There were a few exit opportunities, but they ended up not happening. Liverpool didn't feel comfortable to seal a deal," Lucas said in an interview that has come from ESPN Brazil.
"For the time I've been [at Liverpool], I respected the club and stayed for another year, for this season, starting my tenth season for the club, which is a very cool milestone."
Lucas hasn't been much of a feature under the management of Jurgen Klopp so far in 2016/17, although he remains an important back-up player, providing additional cover. That is perhaps no more clear given that his only Premier League start has come as a stand-in centre-back.
And it was Klopp who pulled the plug on specifically the Galatasaray move in August, according to comments from intermediary agent Metin Korkmaz at the time.
"Klopp was behind the transfer hitting the rocks, he wants Lucas to stay and the player had to listen," he said when it happened. "If it was up to Lucas he would have made the transfer."
As things stand, Lucas will become a free agent at the end of the 2016/17 campaign.