Richard Hughes has made an all-time Liverpool transfer fumble with midfielder deal

But the England under-21 European Championship winner was frozen out by the Dutchman. And - last summer - the decision was taken to sell him to Lyon for only £9m give or take.

Since then the Wallasey-born midfielder has developed into one of Ligue 1’s top performers - leading to links with clubs like Chelsea and Juventus.

Any potential transfer regret that the decision-makers at Anfield might have been feeling has now been rammed home.

'Unbelievable' Morton belongs at one of the world's top clubs

Bournemouth midfielder Alex Scott - a good friend and England U21 teammate - has disclosed his belief that Morton is capable of playing for one of the best clubs in the world.

“I think it was a great decision for him (to move) — he is smashing it at the minute,” the midfielder said in an interview with The Athletic.

“He’s an unbelievable player. I think Liverpool fans saw that years ago when he was bossing it at the San Siro. He didn’t really get his opportunity last year. Obviously, it was tough in a team that was doing so well going for the league.

“In his head, I think it was time to move on and play first-team football. He was playing a lot of 21s football as well, but a player of his standard needs to be playing week in, week out, for one of the top teams in the world. I speak to him quite a lot, he is an unbelievable guy. I’m so, so happy that he’s doing so well.”