Liverpool pulled out of the race for new Chelsea signing Christian Pulisic "quite a while ago", while Manchester United were also interested in the USA international, according to Raphael Honigstein.
On Wednesday Chelsea and Borussia Dortmund confirmed they had agreed a £57.6m deal for the 20-year-old, which will see Pulisic remain at the Bundesliga side on loan until the end of the season.
Pulisic had been linked with a number of clubs in recent months, including Liverpool, but German football expert Honigstein claims that while the Anfield side were keen on the attacking midfielder in the past, their interest ended some time ago.
Speaking to Sky Sports News podcast, Transfer Talk, which is available on Wednesday afternoon, Honigstein said: "Liverpool were definitely in for him a couple of years ago, they pushed quite hard to get him and at that time Dortmund said 'no chance, you are staying'.
"I think it became quite obvious that if he were to go he would command a really big transfer fee and at that point I think Liverpool looked at it and decided that 'right now it is not what we need, not for that kind of money'.
"It is my understanding they pulled out of negotiations quite a while ago so it is not a case of him deciding between Liverpool and Chelsea or him deciding between Chelsea and Manchester United who also showed some interest earlier this season.
"But Chelsea were the one club really prepared to put an offer both to him and to Dortmund to make this happen and I think he felt he had to take it."
Klopp brought then-youth player Pulisic in to train with the senior squad in his final season at Dortmund in the 2014-15 campaign.
Honigstein believes the perceived relationship between Pulisic and Klopp has been "overplayed" and says Pulisic's decision to join Chelsea does not mean he snubbed any potential Liverpool offer.
"There was always going to be a feeling that once Dortmund were willing to sell maybe one or two more clubs from the Premier League could come in but the way the price and transfer market developed I think they quickly realised that they cannot do that deal right now," he said.
"It's not to do with him snubbing Liverpool or the relationship with Jurgen Klopp is now broken, it was never that strong to begin with to be honest.
"It was always very overplayed in the media just how close they were. They had worked a little bit together but there was nothing beyond the normal relationship between a coach and a player there.
"Chelsea just put the money on the table and he felt he had to move and Dortmund felt they had to sell at this point."