What if....Ronaldo and Dani Alves played for Liverpool?

When a player signs for a certain club, it’s almost sure that he had other suitors too, but the club which signed him had an edge over others: wage, conditions, country, league….When a player is really popular and already well scouted, then be sure that European giants will be all over him and that small details will prevail. Liverpool is not the kind of club famous for picking up raw talented players. The Reds either use their home grown players, or overpay already established footballers (Nunez, Van Dijk, Gakpo, Mane). But, over the decades, they had numerous chances to sign young, talented players for less money, but the circumstances were not good. Here are five examples.

Cristiano Ronaldo

The history of the Premier League would certainly be different if this Portuguese striker went to Anfield. But…

"I saw Ronaldo in the Toulon under-21 tournament and we went for him. But we had a wage scale and we weren't paying the sort of salary he wanted. Then Manchester United played a friendly against Sporting Lisbon and all their boys said to Sir Alex Ferguson: 'You have to sign him'. But I agreed with not breaking the wage structure. I thought it would cause problems in our dressing room" said former Reds boss Gerrard Hollier years ago.

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Delle Alli

He may now looks like a lost case in Everton as he is yet to play for Sean Dyche, but he was actually a real talent while at MK Dons and when transferred to Tottenham played brilliantly and was also an England international. He declined heavily under Jose Mourinho and it all went down since.

“The manager of MK Dons actually drove him down to us. They played a game on the Saturday and we were playing West Ham on the Sunday. We’d had contact with Dele, it was all above board, I was speaking with Karl Robinson and I spoke to Dele and his adoptive parents. Karl did really well with him and he came to me and said: ‘I’ve got a really exciting player, I’d love to see him at Liverpool’. I spent a couple of hours in a hotel room with him and he wanted to come to Liverpool. It was all about getting the deal done with the club but unfortunately it never got done. On Saturday evening we thought it had got done but eventually he went to Tottenham, which was frustrating and disappointing. He’s done really well there” explained former Reds boss Brendan Rodgers.

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Dani Alves

Currently in jail due to rape accusations, this Brazilian international and former Barca fullback was one of the best in the world at his position. He could have helped Liverpool a lot, but at the time, Rafa Benitez had only 10 million pounds for the right winger and he choose Dirk Kuyt.

"We looked at Dani Alves, but he was a right full-back. So you have to make a decision, whether to sign a player who can play as a striker, second striker and right winger, or you can go for a full-back, Brazilian, playing in Spain to play as your right winger. It's a big risk” admitted Rafa.

David Silva

This one is a total flop and Rafa Benitez was to blame. When Xabi Alonso was sold to Real Madrid for 30 million pounds in 2009, Benitez had to find a replacement. Silva was playing for Valencia back then, and the Spanish club wanted the same amount for him. Benitez though it was too expensive, and decided to save some money and signed Alberto Aquilani from Roma for 17 million. He turned to be a total flop, and Silva went on to win Premier League titles with Manchester City.

Diego Costa

While Rafa Benitez got it wrong with Silva, it wasn’t Liverpool’s fault when they lost on Diego Costa. They paid his release clause from Atletico Madrid in 2013, but the player refused.

“I was close to leaving Atletico. Liverpool are a great team, but after fighting so hard and overcoming difficulties to get my place at Atletico, how could I leave? I thought it was very important to keep growing with Atletico and to play there for many years” Costa told the Sunday People way back. He soon changed his mind and signed for Chelsea only one year after and scored 52 goals in 89 games in the next three years, winning the title two times.