Speaking on the Official Liverpool FC Podcast, Rafa Benitez has been discussing his time at Liverpool and the decision to sell Michael Owen to Real Madrid.
Benitez was met with something of a baptism of fire at Anfield as he was forced to sell his best player in the shape of Owen pretty much as soon as he arrived.
Liverpool eventually settled on a deal for Owen with Real Madrid that included Antonio Nunez coming the other way, but according to Benitez, there’s another player the Reds wanted in exchange for the striker.
Indeed, Benitez says that Liverpool wanted eventual Atletico Madrid star, Juanfran, in a swap deal for Owen, but that move didn’t come to fruition.
Benitez wanted Juanfran
The former Liverpool boss spoke about trying to get Juanfran to Anfield.
“I knew 100 per cent that they would do the deal and I said to Rick Parry, we have to do this price and try to put this young player, who was Juanfran from the B team who went to Atletico Madrid in the end as a full-back and a winger, he was a winger and we needed a right-winger. They put Nunez in the deal and we got Nunez who was injured and maybe was not the best signing, but we were trying to bring someone else to improve the deal for us,” Benitez said.
Would’ve been a good deal
A deal involving Juanfran for Owen would’ve been a good deal for the Reds.
Juanfran wasn’t a big name at that point in time, but he would go on to become a legend in La Liga, winning a league title with Atletico Madrid as the club’s captain back in the 2013/14 season.
The right-back would have grown to become a very important player for Benitez’s Liverpool, but sadly, a move couldn’t be negotiated.
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