Antonio Cassano has revealed that he had an offer to join Liverpool when he left Real Madrid during the noughties.
The Italian playboy was one of the most talented players of his generation, however, his career was littered with controversial incidents both on and off the pitch with the former striker known for his temper, poor behaviour and lack of discipline. Dubbed ‘Cassanate’ by the media and former manager Fabio Capello as a result, the ex-England manager is just one of a number of high-profile names, along with AS Roma legend Francesco Totti, that the hot-headed Cassano fell out with during his playing days.
Still highly-rated despite the scandals and controversy, he was highly-regarded enough in Italy to be nicknamed ‘Fantantonio’ and ‘El Pibe de Bari’ (The Kid from Bari in reference to the legendary Diego Maradona's own nickname, ‘El Pibe de Oro’) and was named Serie A Young Footballer of the Year in 2001 and 2003. And when caught up in a contract dispute with AS Roma, Real Madrid pounced to sign him for a cut-price €5m in January 2006.
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Despite winning La Liga with Real Madrid, Cassano ultimately struggled at the Bernabeu and scored just four times from 29 appearances as the Italian suffered with injury and weight problems. Now nicknamed ‘Gordito’ - that's 'chubby' in English - as a result, Madrid would reportedly fine him for every gram he remained over his playing weight, while the club later suspended him in October 2006 due to his 'disrespect' of new manager Capello.
The following July club president Ramon Calderon described Cassano's attitude as 'unsustainable' and indicated he would be leaving the club. In August 2007, Cassano returned to Italy as he joined Sampdoria on a year-long loan, with the Serie A side then signing him permanently in a deal eventually worth €5m the following summer after a 10-goal season.
He would score 41 goals in 115 appearances with Sampdoria, with such form earning him an Italy international recall and a high-profile move to AC Milan.
And now a pundit in his homeland, Cassano has revealed he could have joined Liverpool when he left Real Madrid, only for him to only have eyes for a return to Italy.
“When I was leaving Real Madrid, I had an offer from the Premier League,” Ita Sport Press quote him as saying in a Q&A on social media. “I could have gone to Liverpool. But I wanted to go home.
“However, I thought: ‘If I’m abroad, in the strongest team in the world, what do I do, go to England? Either I go back home, or I stay at Real. But I would have played there very easily.”
“If I could have played in the Premier League? With a pipe in my mouth. I could have easily played in the Premier. Even players like Coutinho, Zola, Carbone, they were similar players to me, but I do another sport obviously.
“They did well there. Because it’s true that they are physically strong and go a thousand miles an hour, but qualitatively, even if they’ve been going up a lot for 3-4 years, but we’re talking about 15 years ago.”
Cassano would later enjoy mixed stints with AC Milan, Inter Milan, and Parma before returning to Sampdoria in 2015. He then joined Hellas Verona in early-July 2017, only to announce his retirement after just a week with the club. While he would U-turn on his retirement at a press conference, he then confirmed it once and for all later that month as his contract was mutually terminated without ever kicking a ball for the club.
Liverpool would bolster their attacking ranks by signing Fernando Torres, Ryan Babel, Yossi Benayoun, and Andriy Voronin in the summer of 2007, with Robbie Keane, David N'Gog, and Albert Riera then signing 12 months later. We’ll leave you to make your own minds up on whether the Reds should regret not snapping up a striker who scored 150 goals for club and country throughout his senior career or if they were afforded a lucky escape.
However, considering Rafa Benitez’s struggles managing the likes of wildfires Craig Bellamy and Jermaine Pennant at Anfield, the prospect of bringing Cassano to Liverpool, even in a cut-price deal, and trying to tame him seems, at the very least, a surreal concept.
Maybe the Italian wild child could have scored the decisive goals that would have won the Reds the Premier League in 2008/09? But as the 40-year-old said himself, ‘we’re talking about 15 years ago.’ Alas, we’ll never know.
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