It is known to football fans that before Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo made his move to Manchester United in 2003 he had the opportunity to move to Arsenal, but what was not known to many was that he was also close to joining Liverpool.
"He went to Lisbon to see a teenager, and there was widespread news and information about the player and the promotion of his talent, and Ronaldo agent Jorge Mendes was marketing to the player and his talent in England extensively," said Phil Thompson, former assistant coach of Liverpool coach, to the Athletic website.
"Everyone wanted Ronaldo to leave Sporting, and I was invited to watch him play in one of the matches. I was told that Ronaldo was available with five million euros in installments over four years, which is the contract period that was offered to me."
"They asked me to have a salary of one million two hundred thousand euros a year after tax deduction, and the number was then very large for an adolescent of 18 years, and the salary was non-negotiable."
Thompson explained how he returned to "Anfield", and talked with Gerard Houllier, the coach of the team at the time, about the chances of progress in an offer to join the player, but the conversation was too late, as Manchester United had kidnapped the player with a deal amounting to about 15 million euros.
Thompson was surprised that "the value of the deal doubled, and it was clear that we are facing a great talent, but no one can expect the future of the player, and that he will be the way it is now."
Atletic revealed that, in addition to the big salary that would have affected the salary scale in the club, the Reds saw that he possessed two "special" talents: Florent Senama Pongolle and Anthony Lottalik, and Houllier was concerned about the impact of Ronaldo's inclusion on the players and the team.
In the same context, the site talked about the fact that Liverpool had the opportunity to sign a contract with the Welsh Gareth Bale before moving to Tottenham, but Southampton asked to include the Irish Darren Potter, who was permanently loaned from the "Liverpool" and a sum of money compared to Bale, who was 16 years old at the time. .