Cristiano Ronaldo snub saw Liverpool take transfer gamble on ‘next Deco’ Steven Gerrard loved
How things could have turned out differently.
Back in 2003, Gerard Houllier and Phil Thompson were in talks with Sporting Lisbon regarding a £4m deal for a certain teenager called Cristiano Ronaldo, only for the Portuguese’s wage demands to cool their interest after signing Florent Sinama-Pongolle and Anthony Le Tallec from Le Havre.
Still looking to negotiate, Liverpool were shocked when the 18-year-old moved to Manchester United in a £12.2m transfer after wowing the Red Devils in a pre-season friendly.
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“He was being touted around everyone,” Thompson recalled to The Athletic “Tony Henry, the former Man City midfielder, was working for (agent) Paul Stretford, who was tasked by Jorge Mendes to drum up interest in England.
“They were desperate to get Ronaldo out of Sporting and invited me over for a game. I was told the fee was £4m but they explained that it could be paid over the course of a four-year contract so essentially it was £1m per year.
“I asked what kind of salary he would want and they said it was £1m per year after tax. That was a lot for an 18-year-old kid but they said that was negotiable.
“It was a Sunday and I explained to them that I needed to go back to Liverpool and speak to Gerard Houllier and see what we could do. I fed all the information back to Gerard, who said he would speak to [chief executive] Rick Parry.”
Thompson continued: “Lo and behold, the following week I’m at Melwood when the yellow ticker on Sky Sports News says, ‘Manchester United sign Cristiano Ronaldo from Sporting for £12.2m.’ I couldn’t believe my eyes. It was astonishing that the fee trebled. He was clearly a big talent but no one could have predicted back then how great he was going to be.”
With Ronaldo going on to establish himself as one of the game’s greatest ever players, Liverpool made sure they didn’t make the same mistake the next time a player from Sporting Lisbon’s academy caught their eye.
Thrashed home and away by Sporting in the 2011/12 NextGen Series group-stages, academy director Frank McParland wasted no time in opening discussions with the Portuguese outfit in a move resembling United’s own swift pursuit of Ronaldo.
Joao Carlos Teixeira had opened the scoring in a 3-0 victory at Anfield in August 2011 and, with his contract set to expire at the end of that season, then-boss Kenny Dalglish hinted about a potential move for the playmaker the following January.
“There might be something about that,” the Scot said when asked about a potential move for the 19-year old. But when asked whether the teenager would be a contender for a first-team squad place, he replied: “No, he’s only a kid.”
Likened to Deco, Teixeira completed an £830,000 move to Anfield that month and had no doubt that Liverpool was the right club for his future. “When we came to play we were talking about it at Sporting,” he said. “Liverpool is a big club and the stadium has a lot of history.
“We were excited to play there; I really enjoyed it and I was happy to score. One of the reasons I signed was the stadium, the history of the club, and I know I can have a chance to play in the first team here.
“I made the right choice and I’m really happy here. I support Sporting Lisbon, and in England I support Liverpool. Liverpool is a massive club, in the top 10 of the biggest clubs in the world.
“I’m going to the stadium a lot to watch the first team. It’s amazing. My first time listening to You’ll Never Walk Alone at the stadium was unbelievable.”
However, it later transpired a back injury had threatened to scupper the deal and slowed his immediate progress on Merseyside.
“It has been a very good experience, but at the beginning it was very complicated, because I was injured in the back in the first seven months,” he later admitted in an interview with ZeroZero.
“When I did medical exams, they found out I had a fractured back, but they wanted to sign it anyway, which was a vote of confidence. I ended up preferring to do the treatment here and I adapted to the city and the club.”
McParland was determined to sign Teixeira regardless of injury and made a big prediction about his future despite the setback. “We knew when we saw him he was one for us and when we got the chance to sign him the manager backed me and we spent a considerable sum (£830,000) for him,’ he told Sportsmail at the time.
“The trouble was when we got to the medical his back was in a seriously bad way. We questioned going ahead with it but he was worth the risk.
“He was put in a back brace for six months and after some fantastic work by the physios he is starting to play again. He is going to be a top, top player.”
Forced to wait until October 2012 to make his Under-21s debut for the club as a result, Teixeira made 20 appearances for Liverpool’s second-string in 2012/13 as they lost to Manchester United in the U21 Premier League semi-finals.
Sent on a youth loan to League One Brentford in September 2013, the deal was terminated after just a month with Bees boss Uwe Rosler apologetic that they could only offer the midfielder two appearances.
“Joao came to us at an unfortunate time,” he said. “We do not have the same flow to our game as we did in pre-season or at the start of the season.
“Our game is out of rhythm, put it that way, but it will come again. It is difficult for a player like Joao to show us his true potential in that situation.”
Returning to Merseyside, Teixiera found himself making his Premier League debut just a few months later as the Reds started to forge a title challenge under Brendan Rodgers.
With Liverpool twice trailing in their match at Fulham, played on this day in 2014, Teixiera was introduced as an 82nd-minute substitute in place of Raheem Sterling. And the playmaker played a vital role in marking his debut with a memorable victory, having been heavily involved in the build-up that led to Daniel Sturridge winning a penalty, which gifted Steven Gerrard a stoppage-time 3-2 winner.
Speaking to the club after the final whistle, Rodgers and Gerrard both lauded the then-21-year-old’s contribution to the win. “Tonight you saw the real development of the team in terms of character yet again,” Rodgers said. “You saw young players in pressure situations stay calm and stay focused.
“We introduced another young player in Joao Teixeira, who has done great in our reserve team. Not only did he show that he could come in and play with some of our top players, he’s also shown he can fight for the team. He made a great block at the end and it was equally important for us.”
“It has only been a matter of time,” Gerrard said when quizzed about Teixiera’s debut. “I watched this kid a couple of years ago playing for Sporting Lisbon against Liverpool at Anfield in a youth game; I could see straight away he was the best player on the pitch.
“Credit to him, he has kept working hard. He has been invited to train with the first team. He is competing, he is trying to improve and learn. He listens – I’ve just been speaking to him in the dressing room and you can see he wants to learn and listen.
“He has got respect for the other players in the dressing room. This is the start for him now; I’ve just told him that he needs to push on, keep learning and building on what he has just achieved. He deserved his debut and he made a special tackle which helped us get over the line.”
“Fulham was a great moment and my best moment in football,” Teixeira said to the ECHO a few weeks later. “It was great to play in the Premier League – the best league in the world – and we won three points in the last minute. It was the highest point in my career.
“Brendan told me to go on, be confident and to try and score. I was on the bench thinking ‘maybe I will get on’. I was happy with the way I played.”
A handful of unused substitute appearances followed for Teixeira but with Liverpool going strong in the title race, Rodgers was unable to grant him further senior opportunities.
But the player was still full of praise for the man who handed him his Reds debut. “He is an amazing person,” Teixeira said. “A really intelligent guy about football. He knows how to talk with the players to get everything from them. He is great with motivating the players as well.
“Hopefully next season everything goes right and I will be in the first-team more. Next season we will have more competitions – like the Champions League – and hopefully I will have more chances to be part of the first-team.
“But it has still been great this season. I have been training with the best and it has been great to be part of this team. It is a great group, with nice people, and I am enjoying it even more we are challenging for the title.”
Spending the 2014/15 season on loan at Brighton & Hove Albion, Teixeira caught the eye in the Championship as he scored six goals from 32 appearances to win the club’s Young Player of the Year award.
“I have a lot of trust in myself, in my capacity, so I always thought I could do well in the Championship,” he told the Guardian in April 2015 . “I’ve always played in winning teams, when I was at Sporting and at Liverpool as well. This has been a different mentality; we have to fight to survive. It’s a different experience but a good on as well. It’s good to see both sides
“I have kept playing. I came to Brighton to become more mature and get more experience, and hopefully next year I will be playing for Liverpool. That is my dream.”
However, just a week later he saw injury again curtail his progress as a broken leg ended his season prematurely. Teixeira returned to Merseyside and plans for a summer holiday were shelved as he focused on doing his rehabilitation and getting back ahead of schedule.
“I fractured my fibula and damaged two ankle ligaments so it was a tough time,” Teixeira told the ECHO . “I had surgery and then my summer was spent with the Liverpool physios trying to get back fit as quickly as I possibly could.
“I didn’t have a holiday, I just spent the time getting fit. I knew how important this pre-season period would be and I didn’t want to miss the tour.”
Featuring for Liverpool in pre-season, Teixeira again reiterated his desire to make it at Anfield.
“I am very happy to be back at Liverpool and wearing the shirt again. Getting some minutes is important,” he said after scoring a spectacular 40-yard lobbed goal in a practice match against Felda United. “I really want to prove I can be a player for this club. I improved a lot last season. The Championship is a really physical and quick league. As a young player it was good for me to play against so many experienced players.”
He added: “This is my third year here and it’s a big season for me. I really want this. I want to play for Liverpool.
“I am working hard, waiting for my chance and when it comes I’ll do everything I can to take it. I haven’t spoken to the manager much yet about where I fit into his plans but hopefully when I get back to Liverpool we’ll have time to speak about that.
“I know all the minutes I get and all the training, the manager is watching. I do whatever I can to impress him.”
But with his contract running out in the summer of 2016, it swiftly became clear that Teixeira’s dream would ultimately go unfulfilled.
It wasn’t until Jurgen Klopp took over as Reds manager that the Portuguese was granted his next glimpse of the Liverpool first team, marking his first start for the club with an assist as his new boss picked up a first victory courtesy of a 1-0 win over AFC Bournemouth in the League Cup.
Further opportunities followed in the FA Cup, with Teixeira scoring his first goal for the club in a 3-0 replay victory over Exeter City at Anfield. “This one felt very special. That was my first in a Liverpool shirt and it was a great feeling,” he Teixeira told the ECHO after opening his account.
“It was a great pass from Christian Benteke and I was able to beat the keeper. It’s always good to score and to get one at such a famous stadium in front of a big crowd is even better.”
But having entered the final six months of his contract, the midfielder also admitted he might have to leave the club in search of regular game-time.
“We are in conversations at the moment,” he revealed. “My contract runs out at the end of this season. I want to stay but we will see what happens.
“I don’t want to think about my future too much right now. I just want to play football. I want to enjoy this moment and try to build on it.
“I just have to keep working hard and keep doing my best in training. Whenever chances come along like this to impress Jurgen Klopp, it’s up to me to show him that I deserve more chances.”
Klopp praised Teixeira for the “big jumps in the development” after the game and insisted he’d “like to work with him longer”. However, the Reds boss also admitted the now-23-year-old was reaching an age where he needed to be playing regularly, and that was demonstrated by the minimal opportunities that followed.
A second Premier League appearance, coming on as a late substitute in a defeat to Leicester City, was sandwiched by FA Cup clashes with West Ham United, before Teixeira came on as a late substitute in a Europa League victory over Augsburg in late February.
It would be his eighth appearance for Liverpool in four years, but also prove to be his last. Offered new terms by the Reds, Teixeira snubbed a new contract in favour of a return to his homeland and a ‘dream move’ to Porto.
“I am from the north and to wear blue and white has always been a dream for me,” he said after agreeing a four-year deal. “Now I can work at my club in my region and my country. “I had other offers but do not want anything other than to wear blue and white.”
For the record, he has no regrets of his time at Anfield even though he was unable to make anywhere near as much of an impact as he would have liked.
“I was 18, it’s hard to say no to Liverpool, it was a unique opportunity,” he told A Bola. “I went and I don’t regret it.
“I had wonderful experiences, I played with great players, things were happening. I don’t regret going. I still played eight games, seven of them under Klopp.”
With Teixeira moving overseas, Liverpool only received a £240,000 compensation package for his departure, yet a return to Portugal didn’t prompt an immediate upturn in opportunities.
Limited to just eight substitute appearances with Porto, he spent the 2017/18 season on loan at SC Braga but, while he featured prominently in the Europa League, he was limited to 23 appearances with only 14 coming from the start.
In a surprise move, he signed permanently for Vitoria de Guimaraes in July 2018 in a deal which prompted Teixeira to finally begin to live up to some of his early potential.
In the 2019-20 season he scored an impressive 10 goals from just 30 outings and earned a summer move to Feyenoord off the back of it. However, an encouraging start was derailed by a fractured fibula.
It’s cruel that injuries have prevented Teixeira from becoming the top player many anticipated when first watching him tear Liverpool’s youngsters apart back in 2011.
Now 30, he should be at the peak of his powers. Instead, 11 years on from his initial move to Liverpool, the ‘New Deco’ is playing for Umm Salal in Qatar.
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