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Liverpoolfc.tv - Rafa: I Wanted To Sign Owen

"We tried until the very end to sign Michael. We even made phone calls early yesterday morning. In the end, it was impossible."

"When we spoke to Madrid, they only ever talked about £16m. We couldn't spend that much money on a player we sold for £8m. We have to think about the club over any player in this situation."

"Real Madrid put a lot of pressure on Michael to go to Newcastle because they wanted the money to sign Sergio Ramos. I hoped Michael would say no and then, maybe, we could do something."

"I thought we could bring Michael to the club because Neil Mellor is out injured for a few more weeks and some clubs are interested in taking him on loan."