Liverpool missed the opportunity to sign Cristiano Ronaldo during the scramble for his signature in 2003, says Phil Thompson.
The highly-rated Portuguese star was generating plenty of interest after bursting onto the scene at Sporting Lisbon.
Several Premier League teams took the chance to cast an eye over Ronaldo’s potential, with Thompson sent on a scouting mission while still assistant to Liverpool manager Gerard Houllier.
The Reds legend was impressed with the forward, but was unable to commit to the financial package on the table for his signing.
Reflecting on what could have been, Thompson said: “He was being touted around everyone.
“Tony Henry, the former Man City midfielder, was working for (agent) Paul Stretford, who was tasked by Jorge Mendes to drum up interest in England.
“They were desperate to get Ronaldo out of Sporting and invited me over for a game. I was told the fee was £4 million but they explained that it could be paid over the course of a four-year contract so essentially it was £1 million per year.
“I asked what kind of salary he would want and they said it was £1 million per year after tax. That was a lot for an 18-year-old kid but they said that was negotiable.
“It was a Sunday and I explained to them that I needed to go back to Liverpool and speak to Gerard Houllier and see what we could do. I fed all the information back to Gerard, who said he would speak to [chief executive] Rick Parry.
“Lo and behold, the following week I’m at Melwood when the yellow ticker on Sky Sports News says, ‘Manchester United sign Cristiano Ronaldo from Sporting for £12.2 million.’ I couldn’t believe my eyes.
“How had the fee gone up from £4 million to £12.2 million in a few days? Gerard asked me to phone Tony to find out what had gone on. Tony told me that when he’d got off the plane on the Monday he had got a call to say he was off the deal. It was down to Stretford and Mendes instead.
“It was astonishing that the fee trebled. He was clearly a big talent but no one could have predicted back then how great he was going to be.”
