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Former Liverpool manager Gerard Houllier admitted that the club turned down the opportunity to sign Cristiano Ronaldo as his salary demands would have exceeded Michael Owen’s salary.
The Portuguese superstar came close to moving to Anfield in 2002, a year before he completed a trade to Liverpool rival Man Utd.
United ended up paying more than £ 12 million to land the promising talent of Sporting Lisbon, but Liverpool almost got it for a fraction of that fee.
Houllier revealed that Liverpool were chasing a daring double whammy for Ronaldo and his Sporting teammate Ricardo Quaresma but were ultimately eliminated.
He said objective : “We had been following Cristiano for a year, but he dragged us a bit because at the salary level he was more demanding than we could do for Ronaldo.
(Image: Reuters)
“You have to know that there was a salary policy at Liverpool and Michael Owen had just won the Ballon d’Or. You couldn’t give a 17-year-old a higher salary than him.”
United ended up making their move the following summer after Ronaldo dazzled in a preseason friendly against Sir Alex Ferguson’s side.
Since then, Ronaldo has emphatically overshadowed Owen’s Ballon d’Or triumph, winning five of the awards in a brilliant career.
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It has been an extremely interesting start to the season for Jurgen Klopp’s men.
Their title defense got off to a shaky start when they overcame a seven-goal thriller against Leeds, before going to seven conceded in a beating of Aston Villa.
Virgil van Dijk’s season ended with injury in a 2-2 draw at Everton, leaving the title favorites much less secure in the back, especially with Alisson’s concern about injury.
But there is no slowdown in what will be a busy campaign, with Klopp making sure his men keep up with him as they battle for more titles.
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Few could argue with Liverpool’s approach, however, given Ronaldo’s relatively unknown status in the game and Owen’s position as one of the best forwards in the world.
“Its price went from £ 4 million to £ 13 million and we couldn’t match it,” Houllier admitted. “Maybe our recruiter should have said yes immediately, too, but he wanted to be sure, not make a mistake.”
Houllier’s former assistant Phil Thompson recently shed light on Ronaldo’s failed attempt in an interview with The Athletic.
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(Image: PA)
He confirmed that Liverpool had agreed to the terms of a transfer worth £ 4 million, with the cost set to be spread over four installments of £ 1 million, with Ronaldo’s salary being the only hurdle.
And Thompson can vividly recall the moment they learned that United had swooped in to get Ronaldo out from under their noses.
“On Tuesday morning, we were having lunch in training ground and it appeared on the Sky Sports yellow tape, ‘Manchester United has signed Cristiano Ronaldo for £ 12.2 million,'” Thompson recalled.
“Gerard and I almost choked on our food. I can remember Gerard jumping up and saying, ‘What the hell happened there?'”
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