Former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher has revealed how the club narrowly missed out on signing Cristiano Ronaldo before he made the switch to rivals Man United.
Undoubtedly one of the greatest football players in history, Ronaldo joined Manchester United in 2003 and went on to become a Premier League legend at Old Trafford. During his time at Man Utd, Ronaldo developed into a generational talent under Sir Alex Ferguson’s guidance.
The 39-year-old developed into a world-class star at United before later moving to Real Madrid in a then record-breaking £80m transfer after six-years in England.
Carragher has now revealed how the Portuguese superstar could have joined Liverpool before signing for United from boyhood club Sporting Lisbon.
When asked about how close Liverpool were to beating United, Carragher said on the Overlap: ‘I would say Cristiano Ronaldo and the reason I say that is because when he actually signed for United I think we were in for him.
‘That was when Gerard Houllier and Phil Thompson – Phil Thompson tells the story that he thought we had him.
‘He was speaking to the agent and before you know it, it breaks on Sky Sports News ‘Ronaldo’s gone to United’ – and I think of what we lacked probably in the best teams I played in at Liverpool,’ he added.
‘I think we had world-class or great players in every position over a 10-year period, but I don’t think we ever had a world-class wide player.
‘Listen, we had the best in John Barnes, late eighties, but I think if you got through the nineties, I don’t think we ever had a player of that ilk.’
Ronaldo who currently play for Al-Nassr in the Saudi League made a magical return to United but things did not go as planned. The Portuguese forward contract was mutually terminated following a falling out with current Red Devils boss Erik ten Hag.
