Liverpool may be one of the biggest teams in the world – both based on current status and historical achievements – but Rafa Benitez has revealed the Reds struggled to compete for signings during his tenure.
Benitez is one of the Reds’ most successful managers of the modern era, masterminding their fairy tale Champions League win over AC Milan in 2005 and an FA Cup triumph in 2006.
Though he would later return to the blue half of Merseyside, Benitez remains a legend at Anfield, having left the club in 2010 after six years at the helm.
In the latest episode of the Stick To Football Podcast, Benitez appears as the special guest and discussed his time at the club, opening up on some of the highs and lows of his Reds tenure.
But fans may be surprised to learn that during his time at Liverpool, they were financially unable to compete with the likes of Arsenal and Tottenham when it came to signing new players.
Rafael Benitez has revealed that Liverpool were unable to compete financially with their rivals
Aaron Ramsey had been on the Reds’ radar before joining Arsenal from boyhood club Cardiff
Gareth Bale was being watched by Liverpool at Southampton before moving to Tottenham
‘Under Tom Hicks and George Gillett, I wanted to sign [Stevan] Jovetić and he was £16 million,’ Benitez began speaking on the Stick to Football podcast, brought to you by Sky Bet.
‘In my head, I was selling players and had £34million, but was told that we don’t have money. 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 £1.5m 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 £5m, and we couldn’t sign him.
‘Gareth Bale, when he was 17 at Southampton, six months after we were watching him, Tottenham paid £8m, and we couldn’t compete.’
Both Bale and Ramsey would go on to become established Premier League stars at their respective clubs, as well as starring for Wales on the international scene in Chris Coleman’s famous Euro 2016 side.
Bale would eventually leave Tottenham for Real Madrid in a then-record deal worth £86m, representing a healthy profit for Spurs of £78m.
Ramsey meanwhile left Arsenal for Juventus in 2019 after 11 years and 262 Premier League appearances as one of the Gunners best midfields of the latter Wenger era.
Benitez also revealed that he had been in discussions with Nemanja Vidic before the Man United legend signed for the Red Devils, but was aware from an early stage that he could not compete with the financial might of Liverpool’s great rivals.
Nemanja Vidic was in conversations with Benitez before choosing to sign for Man United
Liverpool were able to raise funds for the new owners after selling Fernando Torres to Chelsea for a fee of £50m
‘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.
‘The new owners were lucky because we sold Torres for £50m, then Luis Suarez and Philippe Coutinho. So, they had money to spend around that time. You must spend a lot of money like Chelsea and Manchester City – they just spend.
‘For Liverpool, it was very difficult because the families of the players preferred to stay in London because of the airport, as well as Manchester. Liverpool was the third choice because of the size of the city, and they like to go shopping in London, I heard one wife talk to another wife!
‘You also cannot pay the salaries. In terms of the city, I love Liverpool but if you go to London there’s the wives, families and all the people. Liverpool were also not winning trophies. Manchester was winning trophies; Chelsea was winning trophies and even Arsenal was winning trophies. So, it was very difficult – you have to convince players.’
Rafa Benitez was speaking on the Stick to Football podcast, brought to you by Sky Bet.