Speaking on Jamie Carragher’s Greatest Game Podcast, ex-Liverpool scout Jonathan Woodgate has spoken about spotting Ruben Dias as a teenager.
The former Real Madrid centre-half was employed by Liverpool as a European scout for a short period of time after he retired from professional football, and during his ventures, he spotted a number of talented players, including Man City star Ruben Dias.
Woodgate spoke about what his scouting role at Liverpool entailed on the Greatest Game podcast.
“I was going over to Spain and Portugal every two weeks and trying to get to four games, one in the morning one at night, and you come back and watch them on the tele and on the laptop.”
“But you get to know the younger players from around the world like Llorente the lad at Atletico Madrid, the Hernandez brothers one moved to Bayern Munich, one moved to Real Madrid. Dias, when he was at Benfica you’re watching these players.”
Carragher then probed the ex-Liverpool scout on what he thought of the current Man City star when he watched him.
“Yeah, Dias I watched him play at Sunderland I think it was for Benfica Under 19s, he was top-drawer.”
Liverpool wouldn’t have their current centre-back problems if they’d have signed Dias when he was just a teenager.
Dias has since become one of the best centre-backs in Europe, costing Man City a whopping £65 million this summer, while other top sides such as Tottenham were in for him.
However, it’s hard to believe that he would have cost that much if Liverpool had signed him when he was starring at U19 level.
Woodgate certainly thought he had the talent at the time, describing him as a ‘top-drawer’ player, but for one reason or another, the higher-ups at Anfield didn’t opt to bring him in.
Perhaps the Reds should re-employ Woodgate as a scout after he was sacked as Middlesbrough manager earlier this year.
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