Southampton defender Cedric Soares has revealed he considered leaving the Saints after revealing he had "proposals" to leave the St Mary's Stadium.
The 26-year-old arrived at the South Coast club from Sporting in the summer of 2015. After impressing for the English side, he was included in the Portugal squad for the 2016 European championship, which they won after defeating France 1-0 in the final.
Cedric and Virgil van Dijk were keen on pushing for a move away from Southampton after the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup. Liverpool were keen on signing the Dutch international last summer, but the Reds' multiple approaches were turned down, despite the center-back handing in a transfer request.
Van Dijk's wish of joining Jurgen Klopp's side became a reality when Southampton allowed the former Celtic defender to sign for the Merseyside club in the January transfer window. However, Cedric has continued with his current employers.
"I had proposals to leave Southampton, its normal. Playing at the highest level, and with the victory in Euro 2016, they appeared, but I renewed," Cedric told A Bola, as quoted by Sport Witness.
"After the Confederations Cup, me and Van Dijk were negotiating our exit, but with the Southampton sale process it was established that no exits would be allowed.
"And that showed us that we were important to the club. Van Dijk then ends up going to Liverpool because the value was too high. On this, I'm a loyal player. I want a dream team, but if it's not a dream I don't know if I'll consider the Southampton exit."
Southampton have seen several of their players leave the club and make a switch to the top six Premier League clubs. The list includes the likes of Van Dijk, Adam Lallana, Dejan Lovren, Victor Wanyama, Luke Shaw and Ricky Lambert over the years.
Their immediate focus will be on avoiding relegation to the Championship. The Saints have already sacked Mauricio Pellegrino and have appointed Mark Hughes until the end of the season.
