Cristiano Ronaldo is set to make a remarkable return to Manchester United.
But Phil Thompson has previously revealed just how close Liverpool were to signing the Portuguese winger back in 2003.
The former Reds captain was then Gerard Houllier’s assistant and had been tasked with travelling to Porto to watch the teenager in action for Sporting Lisbon.
Liverpool believed they were leading the race to sign the then-19-year-old, before he shocked the coaching staff by signing for Alex Ferguson’s side.
"I was invited to watch Sporting Lisbon play Porto in the last game of the season”, Thompson said in his 2005 autobiography .
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“Tony Henry, the former Manchester City player and agent, was on the phone on a regular basis to see if he could take us to watch him.
“Ronaldo was quite good, but not as impressive as the first time I saw him. Tony was pushing the boy and saying he was a talent. He was saying: 'He will only cost £4m.'”
However, having recently signed two other young forwards, Houllier went to ask chief executive Rick Parry about completing another deal.
Liverpool hit a stumbling block when it was suggested that Ronaldo had asked for a £1m signing on fee, which Thompson felt would be an issue with the club's board.
"We had just signed Florent Sinama Pongolle and Anthony Le Tallec, both on far less than Ronaldo's aspirations”, the three-time European Cup winner admitted.
“And we would have had anarchy if the other players had found out how much we were considering paying for an 18-year-old kid,
"We looked for a compromise. Ten days later I was sitting in a lounge at Anfield having some lunch and looking at the big TV screen. Up came the news United had signed Ronaldo from Lisbon for £12.2m. Gerard and myself nearly choked on our food.
“[Tony Henry] said: 'After you had been with me, I got a phone call the following week and was told to drop everything on the deal. Hand on heart, I really don't know what happened.'
"I went back and told Gerard the story. What happened, God only knows. For the fee to jump from £4m to £12m, especially as they seemed so desperate, was surprising to say the least."
Instead, Ronaldo moved to Old Trafford where he would develop into one of the world’s best players.
Having signed for Houllier two years before their interest in Real Madrid’s all-time top scorer, both Pongolle and Le Tallec had left Anfield by the time Ronaldo won his first Ballon d‘Or in 2008, having scored just four league goals between them.
Had Liverpool acted swiftly enough to sign the Sporting Lisbon winger for £4m, who knows how that would have altered the club’s modern history.
