---
title: "Rafa tried to sign Bale for Liverpool"
canonical: "https://readliverpoolfc.com/articles/rafa-tried-sign-bale-liverpool/"
type: "post"
language: "en-GB"
author: "Will Jackson"
section: "Articles"
published: "2015-10-19T18:35:38Z"
modified: "2015-10-19T18:37:38Z"
---

# Rafa tried to sign Bale for Liverpool

Rafa Benitez has revealed that Liverpool tried to sign Gareth Bale during his tenure at the club, as per [the Mirror](https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/rafa-benitez-reveals-liverpool-tried-6639872).

Benitez, who is Bale’s new manager at Real Madrid having joined the Spanish club in the summer, has claimed that he has always been a big fan of the Welshman, and even tried to sign the winger before his move to Tottenham in 2007.

The Spaniard told Spanish radio station Onda Cera that he even scouted the then teenager himself before striking up negotiations with Southampton:

> Back in 2006 I went to see Bolton-Southampton. We transferred a player to Southampton, but they wouldn’t give us Bale. Then when we tried to buy him, we couldn’t. I’ve known for a long time he was a great player.

Since his arrival at the Bernabeu, Benitez has [promised to make Bale a central figure](https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/gareth-bale-central-rafa-benitezs-5876562) as he bids to regain the La Liga and Champions League titles.

However, Bale has scored only twice this season and was brought off at half-time in Saturday’s 3-0 win against Levante.

This news comes after Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher [had previously claimed](https://www.goal.com/en-gb/news/3277/la-liga/2015/10/11/16214152/liverpool-considered-signing-bale-but-they-had-riise) that Benitez thought John Arne Riise was a better player than Bale and, therefore, didn’t push through with the pursuit of Bale.

Benitez responded to Carragher by suggesting there were other factors in the failure to sign the Welshman.

He said: “Carragher has made the mistake of saying I preferred Riise when it wasn’t like that.”