Jamie Carragher details how close Liverpool came to signing Cristiano Ronaldo in blockbuster move

Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher has spoken about just how close the Reds were to signing Cristiano Ronaldo from Sporting CP before he ended up moving to Manchester United in 2003.

"When he actually signed for United I think we were in for him," Carragher said on the Overlap , brought to you by Sky Bet . "That was when Gerard Houllier and Phil Thompson — Phil Thompson tells the story that he thought we had him.

"He was speaking to the agent and before you know it, it breaks on Sky Sports News 'Ronaldo's gone to United'. I think of what we lacked probably in the best teams I played in at Liverpool .

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"I think we had world-class or great players in every position over a 10-year period, but I don't think we ever had a world-class wide player. Listen, we had the best in John Barnes, late 80s, but I think if you got through the 90s, I don't think we ever had a player of that ilk."

Ronaldo went on to sign for Real Madrid in the summer of 2009 for a then-world-record fee of $106m (£80m/€95m). He scored 451 times in 438 competitive appearances for Los Blancos before joining Juventus. He then rejoined Manchester United before becoming one of the first major players to join the Saudi Pro League .

Liverpool.com says: It would be interesting to know just how differently Ronaldo's career could have gone had he moved to Anfield. The chances are, he would still have moved to Real Madrid, possibly even sooner than he did, but he might also have helped Steven Gerrard win a Premier League title beforehand.