REDS MISSED OUT ON DUFF COS THEY THOUGHT HE WAS THICK

Irish scout Noel McCabe has revealed how Liverpool spurned the opportunity to sign one of their top transfer targets Damien Duff for nothing.

McCabe claims he recommended Duff to Liverpool when the Republic of Ireland international was still a schoolboy but the Reds “didn't think he had much between his ears” - paving the way for Blackburn Rovers to swoop for the winger.

And now, in an exquisite piece of irony, Liverpool boss Gerard Houllier is known to have been tracking the Blackburn winger, whose valuation is in excess of £12million.

So desperate is the Frenchman to land Duff, who “would have swum across the Irish Sea” back then to sign for the Anfield side, that a player-plus-cash deal involving Emile Heskey has also reportedly been mooted

“I told Liverpool about Damien when he was a schoolboy at Lourdes Celtic,” McCabe is quoted as saying on Blackburn’s official website.

“At the time he would have swum across the Irish Sea to sign for an English club and Liverpool were ahead of the posse.

“They did watch him and looked at him in a schoolboy international but the following week I got a call and was told they didn't think he had much between his ears because he kept getting caught offside.

“It was a kick in the teeth for me because I knew how good Damien was. They're supposed to be after him now but imagine how much they will have to pay when they could have got him for nothing.”