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But things have not always been so prosperous at Anfield.

During the Rafa Benitez years of the mid-to-late 2000’s, Liverpool were far from being the attractive proposition they are right now.

The Reds’ finances were extremely tight.



Without FSG calling the shots, Liverpool were really struggling to match the fees being thrown around by the likes of Chelsea, Manchester United and even Arsenal.

Portugal legend Luis Figo has detailed how close he came to joining Liverpool in 2005, for example, while there are many more similar stories besides.

And it turns out that one of those comes from former Arsenal midfielder Aaron Ramsey.

According to the Welshman, Liverpool liked what they saw and made a move to try and sign him.

Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images

Now 33, Ramsey is back at Cardiff, currently seeing out his playing days in the Championship.

Ramsey played 369 times for the Gunners across 11 years in North London, winning three FA Cups.

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At his best, Ramsey was an equally silky and robust midfielder who had a real eye for goal.

And had things turned out differently, his years in England could easily have been spent adding those qualities to Liverpool’s already stacked midfield.

READ MORE: Rafa Benitez raves about ‘quality’ Liverpool player after win over Chelsea

Appearing on Sky Sports Monday Night Football alongside Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher on Monday evening, Ramsey revealed that Liverpool were in the mix to sign him 16 years ago.

“Yeah, they were some discussions with Rafa, but at the time, they couldn’t really get to that fee,” said the former midfielder, who also played for Juventus.

However, with an eye injury continuing to hamper him, Sissoko was not the player he once was in 2008 and was sold to Juventus that January.

As a result, Benitez clearly wanted to beef up his options.
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