Michael Laudrup, one of the best players of his generation, could have played in one of Liverpool’s greatest teams.
In 1983, the Brøndby IF star wanted to join them, he was a Liverpool fan, but the transfer ultimately fell through due to a disagreement and England’s loss was Italy’s gain.
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“We agreed a three-year contract and thought that was the end of it,” Laudrup told liverpoolfc.com in 2011. “But two weeks later they came back and said they wanted to offer me the same package but for four years because I was still young and needed time to develop.”
“I was disappointed because even though nothing was signed, we had an agreement. I decided not to go to them and people thought I was crazy. This 19-year-old rejected the big Liverpool. But it wasn’t really like that.
“I just felt that an agreement is an agreement and people should stick to what they decide. After that I had other offers and then I moved to Juventus. That’s football.”
Laudrup eventually moved from Brondby to Lazio and went on to play for Juventus – then a European rival of Liverpool -, Barcelona and Real Madrid. Three-time Ballon d’Or winner Michel Platini described him as one of the most talented players he has ever seen.
His brother Brian once said: “He started out as a striker but developed into an elegant attacking midfielder, perhaps the most complete there ever was.”
“His vision, his speed of thought and his passing were on a whole different level. He always knew what was going to happen before anyone else. If anyone had a ‘football brain’, it was him.”
Romario, Raul and Luis Figo were others who spoke highly of the player Laudrup.
Figo counts him among his favourite players. “When I was younger, I also enjoyed watching players like Michael Laudrup, Zico and Marco Van Basten,” he added, adding that the Dane was the best player he ever played against.
In Spain, he first won four La Liga titles in a row with Barca and was able to win another league title with Real Madrid.
Ivan Zamorano, his teammate at Real Madrid, called him a “genius”.
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Johan Cruyff, his coach at Barcelona, loved him. “When Michael plays, it’s like a dream, a magical illusion and no one in the world comes anywhere close to his level.”
It is rare that a player is loved equally by both Barça and Real fans, but that is the case with Laudrup.
According to one story, King Juan Carlos I appeared at his side in 1996 as he was dining at an upscale Madrid restaurant, pondering his future.
He had been sitting a few tables away and overheard the conversation, which prompted him to come over.
“This is good news,” he whispered in the player’s ear as it looked like he was about to leave. “I will be the only king in Madrid again.”
Laudrup eventually landed in England when he took over as manager of Swansea in 2012 when the club was playing in the Premier League. He stayed until early 2014 when he was sacked.
However, his time will be remembered for his style of play, Michu scored 22 goals in all competitions in his debut season and won the 2013 League Cup as Swansea crushed Bradford 5-0.
He later worked as a coach in Qatar and now uses his expertise as an expert for Danish television.
Liverpool did not really regret their decision, however, as they won the treble in the 1983/84 season and thus the European Cup for the fourth time in seven years. However, an attacking line with Laudrup, Kenny Dalglish and Ian Rush would have been intimidating.
“Michael turned out to be a wonderful player but I firmly believe we made the right decision at the time as he demanded terms in his contract that were impossible for us to meet,” said former Anfield manager Paul Robinson.
“The biggest obstacle was that he wanted the ability to walk away after a short period of time if he felt things weren’t working out. From our perspective, that just didn’t make business sense.”
“Over the years it has been very rare for a player to turn down Liverpool, but that was no cause for concern for us. It was simply a matter of moving on and finding another destination.”
Oh, what could have been.