Why LFC rejected 27-year-old who’d end up at Manchester United – Roy Evans

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Former Liverpool boss Roy Evans has claimed his biggest transfer regret is Teddy Sheringham, who the board opted out of signing due to there being little danger of selling him on at profit.

(And fans think FSG invented that tactic!)

In 1994, Liverpool had agreed a deal with the player, but the club decided not to do business and signed Stan Collymore a year later instead for a British record fee.

Sadly, Collymore only lasted two seasons at Liverpool, while Sheringham went on to win multiple Premier League titles with Manchester United, who signed him to replace Eric Cantona when he was 31.

“I’d say Teddy Sheringham [is my biggest regret],” Evans said, reported in the IBTimes. “It was a boardroom decision not to sign him because of his age. They thought at the age of 27 or whatever it was that he was too old.

“Not too old to play, but too old to be a good investment. He went on to play a number of years with Man United and then back to Tottenham and was very successful.

“I spoke to Teddy before that and since then and he wanted to come, it was just a boardroom decision and as a manager you just have to take that. It was a fair answer, they just felt it wasn’t right, although they were proved wrong by how Teddy played for United. You just take that on the chin though.”

Sheringham was actually scoring goals for Millwall as far back as 1983, which makes the fact he was still bagging them for Colchester in 2007/08 all the more remarkable.

Still, he’s not the only player Liverpool decided against who ended up doing well at Saturday’s opponents.

Cristiano Ronaldo was a target in 2003, but we ended up with Harry Kewell, who at the time, was a safer bet.

The Aussie had been tearing up the Premier League for years, while Ronaldo was just a talented teenager.

Unfortunately, Kewell’s Anfield career was ravished with injuries, while Ronaldo would go on to win four Ballon d’Ors and stake a reputation as one of the best players of all time!

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