Rafa Benitez could not resist a humorous dig at Jamie Carragher as he joked that the Liverpool legend would only be worth £20 million ($26m) in the current transfer market.
The former Reds manager earned hero status on the Kop after masterminding the club's fifth European Cup success back in 2005 in dramatic circumstances. Inspired by captain Steven Gerrard and his deputy Carragher, the Merseysiders rallied back from 3-0 down at half-time to level proceedings before triumphing on penalties in Istanbul.
Casting his mind back on the job he had on his hands when appointed back in 2004, Benitez has now admitted that he felt the Chelsea and Manchester United teams of that era had boasted far more quality. Looking back at the period, he admitted that he found it hard to compete on all fronts against Jose Mourinho and Sir Alex Ferguson's sides.
READ MORE: Liverpool's Mohamed Salah contract decision raises eyebrows after Richard Hughes introduction
READ MORE: Graeme Souness makes Mohamed Salah 'accusation' before Liverpool legend remark
Speaking on Stick to Football , he said: "It's not what you have spent in one year, it's what you have spent already. So Chelsea has spent £300million in the last two years - in the last year before and the year that we were there. So they were much better, much better players. So it's like when they say, "[Sir Alex] Ferguson has spent this or that."
"Because you have the two Nevilles [Gary and Phil], you have [Paul] Scholes, you have [Ryan] Giggs," he told the ensemble cast of panellists on the show which also included Carragher, Gary Neville , Ian Wright, Jill Scott and Roy Keane. "These players were millions if you go to the market, so you have this advantage.
Then making a comparison to the talents he had at his expense, Benitez then reduced the whole room to fits of laughter as he made a witty remark at Carragher's expense, joking: "If you want to buy Gerrard and Carra this time, you pay £200m ($262m).. £180m ($236m) for Gerrard and £20m ($26m) for Carragher!"
During a wide-ranging discussion, the Spanish manager also provided the inside track on the sale of Reds fan favorite Xabi Alonso to Real Madrid back in 2009. Asked why the midfield maestro was allowed to leave Anfield , Benitez explained that his compatriot had been set to leave the year before instead - with an agrement having been struck with Arsenal.
However, that proposed sale fell through after Alonso became cup-tied after appearing for the Reds in a Champions League qualifier. He recalled: "When we went for Gareth Barry, it was because he could play in three different positions and then we needed to sell.
"Xabi had an agreement; he was talking with one club and had an agreement. The year after, we played Standard de Liège for a Champions League qualifier and we had Javier Mascherano and Lucas Leiva in the Olympic Games, Steven Gerrard had a lower back problem, so we had to play [Damien] Plessis and Xabi."
Speaking to Carragher, Benitez added: "Then when you were going out for the warm-ups, you said, 'Poor Xabi.' Not poor Xabi, he is playing for our club at this time. During the season he was our best player and didn’t go to Arsenal because he had to play [for us]. We played against Lazio in our last pre-season friendly and the fans were clapping for Xabi, but he was going to Arsenal, the fans loved him."
Most Popular
Comments / 0