The time Liverpool preferred Harry Kewell to Cristiano Ronaldo

Houllier was in charge of Liverpool between 1998 and 2004 and according to quotes in English publication 'The Daily Mail', the Frenchman had his eyes on Ronaldo before he came to the attention of Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson.

The former Liverpool boss claims to have scouted the Portuguese at the Toulon tournamnet back in 2003, only for a move to collapse over personal terms.

"I saw him 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," he explained.

"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."

The experienced manager also revealed that the form of Harry Kewell was a factor in saying no to a potential deal for Ronaldo, but he admitted that letting one of the players of his generation slip through his fingers may have been a bit of a blunder in hidsight.

"I know some of the signings were not as sharp as they could have been," he added.

"Maybe we would have won the title with Ronaldo, but we had Harry Kewell, who was outstanding at the time and was very hungry but got a bad injury.

"After that, he never had the same confidence, the same appetite."

What could have been.