Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez has revealed he came close to signing Tottenham striker Dimitar Berbatov in 2005 when the Bulgarian was still with Bayer Leverkusen.

"We knew about Berbatov before we played them in 2005, I'd been aware of him since I was in Valencia. He was a player we were looking at closely," Benitez explained.

"Everybody can see the quality he has and we wanted him, but then the draw with Leverkusen came along and we couldn't get him. It is shame but we had to move on."