HOULLIER WANTED RIO

"The first player I wanted to buy is now in Manchester United's team.

"We were offered Ferdinand at £12.5 million when I first arrived here but I only had £12m to spend. At that time he would have been seen as expensive but he would have proved to be a bargain."

"I think he will make all the difference at United. Put it this way, I think United would have won the Champions League last year with Ferdinand. It may not have affected the Premiership but I think they would have won the European Cup."

Mr. Houllier had to be happy with Sami Hyypia and second goal keeper Stephan Henchoz.

Meanwhile Rio claims he is starting to improve since his move last summer.

"There is still a lot more to come from me," he said. "I had never been injured before I came here, so it was a bit weird being on the sidelines and the stop-start nature of the first few months didn't help me."

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