Football clubs regularly manage to let talented players slip through the net and Liverpool are certainly no exception to the rule.
It takes an intricate combination of sporting, cultural and mental factors to build a successful club career in football, and naturally there are peaks and troughs along the way.
In the case of Peter Gulasci, a goalkeeper who once lurked on the fringes of Liverpool’s first team squad, that statement rings particularly true.
But his career has moved on quite the upward trajectory since he left Anfield in July 2013.
And, with his rise to prominence at RB Leipzig in mind, Football FanCast take a look at how his unique story has developed…
Time at Liverpool
The Hungarian stopper completed a permanent move to the Reds in 2008 following a one-year loan deal on Merseyside with the U18 side.
Numerous loan spells followed as Gulasci spent time at Hereford United, Tranmere Rovers and Hull City before he joined RB Salzburg on a free transfer in July 2013.
A return of six clean sheets from just 15 Championship appearances with the Tigers in his final loan spell away from Liverpool pointed towards a bright future in the game, but he faded into the shadows during the 2012/13 season following his return to Anfield.
That was to be his final season with the club before his career took a turn in the right direction.
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Where is Gulasci now?
Amid Liverpool’s perennial struggle with backup goalkeepers – Adrian’s fatal mistake against Atletico Madrid being the latest example – Gulasci’s progress may leave a sour taste in the mouth.
He was an ever-present between the sticks as RB Salzburg won back-to-back Austrian domestic doubles between 2013 and 2015, recording 24 clean sheets in 65 fixtures for the club.
RB Leipzig have established a tradition of poaching at least one of their sister club’s best players on an annual basis, and Gulasci was one of two players who made the familiar journey from Austria to East Germany in 2015, with Stefan Ilsanker also moving in the same direction to join the budding Bundesliga giants.
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And that has proven to be a wise decision indeed. Almost five years later, Gulasci is now a Champions League quarter-finalist with RB Leipzig and a 31-cap Hungary international.
In 2019 the former Liverpool stopper was handed the Hungarian footballer of the year award, while he also scooped the Bundesliga’s Golden Glove in 2018/19 after recording 16 shutouts in 33 appearances, beating Yan Sommer and Manuel Neuer to the accolade.
It’s been an incredible and heartwarming rise for a player who many would have expected to fade into insignificance after leaving Liverpool.
There looks set to be plenty more to come.