Cristiano Ronaldo transfer stunt shocked Liverpool bosses - 'almost choked'

Former Liverpool bosses Phil Thompson and Gerard Houllier were left confused over their lunch when news broke that Cristiano Ronaldo had snubbed the Reds for Manchester United at the very start of his career.

Liverpool thought it had clinched a deal for the then-prodigy Ronaldo for a bargain $5 million (£4m) price tag in 2003, equivalent to about $8.9 million (£7m) in today's money. Ronaldo, dazzling scouts while at Sporting Lisbon, was high on Liverpool's wishlist.

Thompson, assistant manager at the time, has since reminisced about a meal in Lisbon with football agent Tony Henry, where they seemed to iron out the details for Ronaldo's move to Merseyside. But in a twist of fate, Ronaldo decided to join Liverpool's arch-rivals, Manchester United, instead and he caught them very off guard in the process.

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In a chat with The Athletic in 2020, Thompson shared: "I can still remember Tony's exact words. It was all very nice and relaxed. It's £4million and it can be paid over the four years of his contract, so £1million a year. That seemed very reasonable. Then I asked about the salary and Tony told me it was £1million a year, net.

"On the Tuesday morning, we were having lunch at the training ground and it came up on the yellow strap on Sky Sports, 'Manchester United have signed Cristiano Ronaldo for £12.2million'. Gerard and myself almost choked on our food. I can remember Gerard jumping up and saying, 'What the hell has gone on there?'".

Liverpool was unaware that Sir Alex Ferguson had been orchestrating a deal with the young Portuguese star after his impressive performance in a pre-season friendly against United. Liverpool's loss would become one of United's greatest gains, as Ronaldo went on to become one of the club's most influential players of the new generation.

During his initial stint at United, Ronaldo netted 118 goals and clinched three Premier League titles, two League Cups, an FA Cup, the Champions League and the Club World Cup.

In 2009, Portugal's icon left Old Trafford for Real Madrid, where he secured four Champions League titles along with two League titles, the Copa del Rey and Supercopa, two UEFA Super Cups and three FIFA Club World Cups.

Ronaldo then turned his attention to Italy, signing with Juventus in a €100million deal a record-breaking fee for any Italian club at the time. He won the league twice with Juventus, and also claimed two Supercoppas and the Coppa Italia once.

He then made the journey back from Turin to Manchester in 2021, stepping onto the Old Trafford pitch once again where he reached the milestone of 800 career goals and scored 24 in total in a season that was overall disappointing for the club.

After a stalemate with the club and United's gaffer Erik ten Hag, Ronaldo jetted off to Saudi Arabia to join Al Nassr, where he now showcases his football prowess. The Ballon D'or recipient has netted an impressive 913 goals so far and is setting his sights on adding another feather to his cap - a victory at Euro 2024 in Germany, which could potentially be his last international tournament for his country.

However, had he signed with Liverpool over two decades ago, his career trajectory would have been very different. I guess we'll never know what might have been...