Liverpool finally ended its Premier League title drought under Jurgen Klopp in 2020. But before that, Rafa Benitez was almost the man to claim the maiden trophy, and he has lifted the lid on a couple of signings that might have helped him do it , including Gareth Bale.
Benitez's position in Liverpool lore is safe anyway (even surviving a move to Everton), thanks to his role in the Champions League final triumph of 2005. But he was nearly an even more legendary figure, having pushed Manchester United all the way in the Premier League in 2008/09.
That's impressive when you consider what he was working with. Admittedly, he was the coach blessed with a peak Steven Gerrard , and other top players like Xabi Alonso and Fernando Torres came and went, but on the whole it was an era where Liverpool was a step behind its main competitors in terms of investment and infrastructure.
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"When I went to Liverpool, they told me that in three years’ time, we want to compete," said Benitez. "Why we didn’t qualify for the Champions League and finished fifth, because we were in the Champions League already and the motivation of the players was so much against Juventus and Chelsea, and I remember in the league I was pushing but we lose concentration in the first year.
“My budget was £20million ($26m) and six years after it was £17m ($22m) with [Tom] Hicks and [George] Gillett... The budgets were low because we didn’t have the money. The chairman was telling me that they didn’t have the money to compete against the other teams – Chelsea and Manchester United."
Rafa Benítez was speaking on the Stick to Football podcast, brought to you by Sky Bet . He offered some specific examples of when the budget fell short — one of which might have been especially decisive in the race against Manchester United in 2008/09.
"I was talking to [Nemanja] Vidić before he signed for Manchester United, and I knew 100 per cent that he was not coming for us," Benitez revealed. "When I was talking to him, I had to talk through his girlfriend because of English.
"She said, "I like the cities Manchester and Liverpool." I knew right away, why else is he talking about Manchester. So, I knew they were making a bigger offer than us. Therefore, we didn’t have the money to buy players, and we didn’t have the money to pay players either."
In fairness, Vidic was a hindrance more than a help when Manchester United faced Liverpool in that 2008/09 season. He was run ragged by Torres, getting sent off in a 4-1 defeat at Old Trafford.
But over the years, Vidic became a legendary Manchester United figure. Benitez, famed for his miserly defenses, could no doubt have benefited from presence of the Serbian.
At the other end of the pitch, Gareth Bale might have made an even bigger difference. Benitez claims that Liverpool had been keeping an eye on him before his move to Spurs.
“Gareth Bale, when he was 17 at Southampton, six months after we were watching him, Tottenham paid £8m, and we couldn’t compete." He told a similar story about Aaron Ramsey at Cardiff, while also complaining about missing out on Stefan Jovetic, only for the striker to net a brace against Liverpool for Fiorentina.
What could have been, eh? But Benitez at least had the resources he needed to deliver the most famous night in Liverpool's history, and for that he will always be a legend.
Liverpool.com says: Every manager seems to have these "sliding doors" stories. Arsene Wenger is famous for disclosing deals he nearly completed.
It's fun to think about how Liverpool might have looked with Vidic and Bale — and less fun to wonder whether they might have helped deliver the Premier League trophy to Anfield more than a decade earlier. But that's just football.
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