Liverpool were confident they had beaten Europe's biggest clubs to the signing of Cristiano Ronaldo in 2003 - only for fierce rivals Manchester United to gazump them.
Sir Alex Ferguson swooped for the Sporting Lisbon starlet in August of that year, paying £12.2million to sign him ahead of the likes of Barcelona, Juventus and Arsenal.
But it has now emerged that Liverpool thought they had the basis of a deal in place to sign Ronaldo - then one of the hottest teenagers on the planet - for just £4million.
The Athletic have revealed details of the Reds' failed move, which began after they watched the future five-time Ballon d'Or winner star in a game against Porto.
After the match, Liverpool's assistant manager, Phil Thompson, went out for dinner in the Portuguese city with football agent Tony Henry. Ronaldo's price-tag was the subject of conversation.
'I can still remember Tony's exact words,' Thompson told The Athletic. 'It was all very nice and relaxed. "It's £4 million and it can be paid over the four years of his contract, so £1 million a year".
'That seemed very reasonable. Then I asked about the salary and Tony told me it was £1 million a year, net.'
Despite having reservations over Ronaldo's salary demands - he was just 18 at the time - Liverpool were still keen to get a deal over the line for what they saw as a 'great talent'.
They believed they had an agreement in place to sign the winger for £4m, although personal terms had not yet been thrashed out.
Liverpool boss Gerard Houllier also went to watch Ronaldo in action himself, travelling to the Toulon tournament to see him play for Portugal's Under 20 side.
But then everything changed. Out of the blue, from Liverpool's perspective at least, Ronaldo was off to Manchester United for treble the fee they had agreed to pay.
Thompson added: 'On the Tuesday morning, we were having lunch at the training ground and it came up on the yellow strap on Sky Sports, "Manchester United have signed Cristiano Ronaldo for £12.2 million".
'Gerard and myself almost choked on our food. I can remember Gerard jumping up and saying, "What the hell has gone on there?".
Liverpool were left to rue their failure to land Ronaldo, who developed into one of the world's best players during his six year spell at Old Trafford.
After winning three Premier League titles, a Champions League and his first Ballon d'Or award, he departed for Real Madrid in 2009 in what was then a world record £80m transfer.