Rafa Benitez has gone down in history as one of the greatest Liverpool managers thanks to his Champions League success.
Benitez warned Liverpool it would be difficult to replace Jurgen Klopp, but so far Arne Slot has done a fine job.
Just one game of the new Premier League season has taken place, but the new Liverpool manager guided the Reds to a 2-0 win over Ipswich.
Benitez didn’t win a league title during his time at Anfield, but did manage to clinch the Champions League trophy in 2005.
Xabi Alonso hailed Benitez’s time at Liverpool, with the Spaniards having worked well together for many years on Merseyside.
Rafa Benitez shares why Gareth Bale didn’t sign for Liverpool
But things didn’t always go swimmingly for the manager during his time at Anfield, particularly in terms of his relationship with the owners at the time.
Benitez has now revealed all regarding Tom Hicks and George Gillett, who took control of the Reds in 2007.
READ MORE: Liverpool’s most expensive/record transfer fees
“Hicks and Gillett,” Benitez said on the Stick to Football podcast. “I wanted to sign [Stevan] Jovetic. Jovetic was £16million. Then in my head I was selling players and I have £34million, because I spent £36million. I said I want to sign Jovetic. I don’t have money.
“Then we went to play Fiorentina and Jovetic scored two goals and I said this is the player we wanted to sign.
“The point is we didn’t have the money and we had so many injuries the last year. Also I was signing Aaron Ramsey, he was playing for Cardiff, we made an offer of £1.5million plus bonuses.
“Cardiff was playing in the FA Cup and said ‘no, he’s like Steven Gerrard for us, wait’. I said we have to do it. Then when we were going again to try and sign him, Arsene Wenger paid £5million and we couldn’t sign him.
“Gareth Bale, when he was 17 at Southampton, we were watching him, Tottenham paid £8million for him and we couldn’t compete.”
What could have been for Rafa Benitez at Liverpool
Liverpool fans enjoyed a great relationship with Benitez, even if there were some difficult times during his tenure.
But he brought the most important prize of them all back to Anfield in 2005, overcoming the odds to edge past AC Milan.
READ MORE: Liverpool’s best European nights at Anfield
The Istanbul final will go down in history as one of, if not the greatest European Cup finals ever, with captain Steven Gerrard playing a major role.
It could, however, have been even better for Benitez at Merseyside had he managed to get the likes of Bale over the line.
The Wales winger went on to enjoy a stunning career, and even played the villain when he scored a double for Real Madrid against Liverpool in the 2018 Champions League final.
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