Liverpool ‘made right decision choosing me over Ronaldo’

Matt Stead

Liverpool were right to choose Harry Kewell over Cristiano Ronaldo, according to Harry Kewell.

Gerard Houllier admitted earlier this week that the Reds had the chance to sign Ronaldo from Sporting Lisbon in 2003.

They eventually turned the winger down due to reservations over his wage demands, and he would go on to join Manchester United instead.

Houllier defended the decision, citing the presence of Kewell in the first team as another reason for turning Ronaldo down.

“Maybe we would have won the title with Ronaldo, but we had Harry Kewell, who was outstanding at the time and was very hungry but got a bad injury,” he said.

Kewell himself has now backed his former manager.

“I mean back when I signed for Liverpool, I think I was the number one person to go round in that year, so I think he made the right decision,” he told AS.

“In hindsight yes, you could turn around and say a lot of things, there’s a lot of great players that have gone elsewhere that have never been signed.

“I think recently the biggest one was Raul. He got let go by Atletico Madrid and then look where he went to.”