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Rafa Benitez has opened up about how Liverpool missed out on signing both Gareth Bale and Aaron Ramsey during his time at the club.
Rafa Benitez enjoyed an indelible time at Anfield, orchestrating one of the most memorable cup final victories in Liverpool’s history.
The 64-year-old is currently out of a job after being released by Celta Vigo earlier this year, and the former Liverpool manager has made an appearance on Sky Sports’ Stick to Football podcast where he explained how Liverpool missed out on signing the Welsh duo.
“Under Tom Hicks and George Gillett, I wanted to sign [Stevan] Jovetic and he was £16 million. In my head, I was selling players and had £34 million, but was told that we don’t have money,” Benitez explained.
“We went to play against Fiorentina and lost 2-0 – Jovetic scored both goals. I said that this was the player we wanted to sign but we didn’t have money
“I wanted to sign Aaron Ramsey when he was playing for Cardiff City, and we made an offer of £1.5 million but Cardiff were playing in the FA Cup and wanted us to wait, but I told them that we had to do it, he was 17 years old.
“When we went again to try and sign him, Arsene Wenger paid £5 million, and we couldn’t sign him.
“Gareth Bale, when he was 17 at Southampton, six months after we were watching him, Tottenham paid £8 million, and we couldn’t compete.”
Benitez frustration sheds further light on the Hicks and Gillett era
Hicks and Gillett almost drove Liverpool to the ground and Benitez’s explanation above further highlights just how dire the club’s financial situation was at the time.
If it wasn’t for FSG, the Reds would have certainly plummeted into administration had Hicks and Gillett stayed any longer at the club.
It also highlights the difficult circumstances Benitez had to endure as manager while trying to stay competitive at the highest level.
Signing Ramsey and Bale could have ended-up being a masterstroke with both going onto become key players for Arsenal and Tottenham in the Premier League.
The latter even earned a lucrative move to Real Madrid and came back to haunt the Reds in the Champions League final in Kyiv back in 2018.
Under FSG, these are the type of transfers Liverpool continue to make with the Reds bringing in talented teenagers year after year – from signing Harvey Elliott from Fulham to Trey Nyoni from Leicester along with deals for Chelsea‘s Rio Ngumoha and Wolves‘ Alvin Ayman this summer.
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