Ex-Liverpool boss Roy Evans made an enquiry to sign Ronaldo while he was playing for PSV Eindhoven, per The Athletic.

What’s the word?

The Brazilian sensation became a legend throughout his playing career, as he scored a ridiculous number of goals, won the World Cup, twice, and played for some of Europe’s elite clubs.

History, though, could have been very different.

The Athletic reports that, before Liverpool signed Stan Collymore in 1995 for £8.5m – then a club-record fee – they asked about the potential of signing Ronaldo.

At the time, he was with Dutch club PSV, where he would ultimately score a staggering 51 goals in 54 outings.

The enquiry didn’t pay off, of course, and Ronaldo eventually joined Barcelona for a world-record fee of £13.2m.

Changed the course of history

Liverpool’s long wait for a Premier League title would have surely been over swiftly after Ronaldo’s arrival had Evans’ enquiry paid off.

Collymore ultimately flattered to deceive somewhat, scoring 35 goals in 81 games, while Ronaldo enjoyed perhaps the greatest debut season in history during his time at Barca.

He was only there for one campaign but he scored 47 times in 49 games, while also registering seven assists, even scoring in 10 successive games, as well as in the UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup final against PSG.

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It became something of a theme. At Inter Milan, he scored 59 goals in 98 outings, while at Real Madrid he hit 104 in 177.

Add into that 62 goals in 98 Brazil appearances and you have a truly fearsome striker who, had it not been for injuries, would probably be regarded as the greatest out-and-out forward to ever play the game.

Evans clearly spotted the potential in him at PSV but he believed, per the report, that Collymore was just as good. Nobody was, not at that time.

And had the Brazilian ended up on Merseyside, even if it was for just a season, one has to think that the Premier League trophy would have ended up at Anfield too.

Meanwhile, a Liverpool flop could be on his way!