Portugal legend Nuno Gomes has revealed that he almost joined Liverpool back in 2001 during the Gerard Houllier era at Anfield.
The striker enjoyed an impressive career, shining for the likes of Benfica and Fiorentina as well as scoring 29 goals in 79 caps for his country. It turns out that Houllier viewed him as a potential signing after the Reds’ 2000/01 treble-winning season, as he looked to bolster his squad.
Speaking to The Mirror, Gomes opened up about almost heading to Merseyside, admitting he was happy where he was:
I was close to Liverpool once, while I was playing for Fiorentina.
But at that time, in 2001, the offer came right in the middle of my first season in Italy and I was enjoying it – the Serie A was very strong at the time. So in the end it didn’t happen.
There were also some talks with Tottenham and West Ham later, but nothing materialised.
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We will never know whether or not Gomes would have been a success at Liverpool, but there is no denying his pedigree at the time. The ex-Portugal man turned 25 years of age during the summer of 2001, so was very much in the prime of his career.
Gomes could have provided that bit of extra firepower in the Reds’ attack, allowing them to overcome eventual Premier League champions Arsenal in 2001/02.
Houllier’s men were often overly reliant on the 28 goals of Michael Owen that season – he scored double the tally of second-top scorer Emile Heskey (14) – and they also lost Robbie Fowler to Leeds United.
What might have been…
