Liverpool signed Crouch and Pennant... instead of Dani Alves!

Ex-Liverpool Chief executive Rick Parry has revealed just how close the Anfield side came to securing the move of Dani Alves, stating that the Reds did not want to spend their budget on a full back.

'We had the deal, finally, after enormous complications, tied up for Dani Alves and then the decision was should we buy two players or should we spend all of that on a full-back?', Parry told BBC Radio Merseyside.

The 34-year-old right-back is very close to a deal with Manchester City, but he could have made the move to England eleven years ago. 'Alves was not the player then that he is now, but he always looked like he would be a great player', Parry admitted.

'Would he have been a better signing than [Jermaine] Pennant and [Peter] Crouch, for example? Probably yes, but it's easy with hindsight'.

'Looking back, if I could do anything different, it would be to focus on buying one [player] at a time rather than having to buy five or six every season', Parry concluded.