Sportswriter Paul Tomkins, who has a book on Liverpool coming out, has claimed that the Reds once had the chance to sign Juventus midfielder Aaron Ramsey for £1million.
The author revealed the news on his personal Twitter account on Monday, claiming that the Welsh international was at Melwood ready for a switch to Anfield.
Presumably this was while Ramsey was a Cardiff City player, during his pre-Arsenal days. Indeed, the 28-year-old went on to make 262 Premier League appearances for the Gunners [Source: Transfermarkt].
However, Tomkins claims that then-Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez revealed to him that he was told by the club that he couldn’t complete a deal for Ramsey because they already had Jay Spearing.
Rafa told me that he had Aaron Ramsey at Melwood a few months before he joined Arsenal, ahead of a move of about £1m. His account was that he was told we had Jay Spearing, so couldn't complete the move
— Paul Tomkins (@paul_tomkins) July 10, 2019
OPINION
This shouldn’t be used as an opportunity to bash Spearing, because he was once considered a very promising young midfielder. However, you just have to look at the widely varying ways his and Ramsey’s careers have gone to see what a huge mistake this was from Liverpool. One of those players is preparing for the new season with League One Blackpool, while the other is in Italy ready to start his new career with Serie A champions Juventus. Obviously this move didn’t end up happening and Ramsey went to Arsenal and enjoyed a tremendous career with the Gunners. You do wonder, though, whether the Reds could have found room for him. Yes, they had Spearing, but Ramsey would only have costed £1million and then you could have seen who made the most progress out of him and Spearing moving forward. Unfortunately that’s not what the club opted to do, and you imagine that they very much regret their decision now.
