10 Players You Didn’t Know Liverpool Almost Signed

9. Simao Sabrosa

Better known simply as Simao - like Hulk, or Madonna - the former Barcelona winger and Portuguese international had certainly proved his worth when Rafa Benitez set him in his sights in 2005. Having lost Milan Baros to Aston Villa for a cool £6.5 million a week before, Liverpool could've used the deft touch of Simao and even got as far as making a £10 million offer on the 26-year-old. Things got as far as a medical at Anfield before the negotiations fell through. Instead he stayed another couple of years at Benfica, scoring 172 goals in 76 appearances, which was nothing to be sniffed at, but which steadily fell as he moved first to Atletico Madrid, then Besiktas, and finally Espanyol, from whom he was recently released after a disappointing single season with the team. Perhaps a dodged bullet for Liverpool, Sabrosa still has yet to play in the Premier League.