Former Middlesbrough star Juninho has spoken of his regret at not joining Liverpool.
Speaking to the Daily Mail, the 44-year-old explained that he had the opportunity to move to Anfield after the first of his three spells on Teesside came to an end, with Roy Evans – Liverpool’s manager at the time – contacting his father to discuss the possibility of a transfer.
However, the former Brazilian international, who was part of his country’s World Cup-winning squad in 2002, had already agreed to join Atletico Madrid at this point and completed his switch to the La Liga side soon after.
“If I could go back to the past, I would never leave English football when I did,” Juninho explains.
“I had the chance to go to Liverpool in 1997. The manager [Evans] spoke to my father but I had already given my word to Atletico Madrid.
“I can’t complain about my career but if I could change some things I would have liked to have played for longer in England.”
After a loan spell back at Middlesbrough two years after leaving for Madrid, Juninho returned for his third stint at the club in 2002 only to leave for a final time at the end of the 2003/2004 season.
“When Middlesbrough finally got into Europe [in 2004] I left because of Steve McClaren. Perhaps I could have stuck it out.”
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