Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher has revealed that the club almost signed Mario Gomez back in 2010.

The German international endured a difficult start to his career with Bayern Munich, which alerted the then Liverpool manager Roy Hodgson.

However, Hodgson failed to land his target and the 26-year-old striker has gone from strength to strength with the Bundesliga side.

"Gomez and Andy Carroll may have had contrasting fortunes in domestic football over the last few seasons, but their similarities can be underlined by the fact Liverpool almost signed the Bayern Munich striker before we moved for Carroll," Carragher wrote in his Daily Telegraph column.

"The move for Gomez fell through at the last minute - when Hodgson was Liverpool manager - and since then Gomez has not stopped scoring."

Carroll, who joined Liverpool in January 2011, notched 11 goals in 56 games for club and country.

During that same time period Gomez has found the net on 55 occasions.