'Relief turned into sheer horror' -Liverpool unusual signing become cult hero before 'discovering' Cristiano Ronaldo

Only one English side have gained more and, with Jurgen Klopp’s men locked into another epic Premier League title battle with Manchester City this season, hopes are high the tally with their Old Trafford neighbours could be levelled by the end of May at twenty apiece. A variety of different ingredients are necessary to ensure a gruelling nine-month campaign peaks at the right time and fresh legs providing an extra boost while legs and minds are tiring during the run-in can often prove crucial

Since the advent of transfer windows in the 21st century, this nowadays tends to apply to the return of injured players but -back when clubs could trade freely throughout a season until the traditional ‘transfer deadline’ at the end of March -a new face providing a spark to help drag his flagging team-mates over the line was not an uncommon occurrence and there have been few finer examples than when Liverpool won the last of their ten titles in fifteen years as the club’s dominance of the 1970s and 80s drew to a close.

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It was one of the more unusual transfer deals of that LFC era and brought to Anfield the kind of kind of whole-hearted if occasionally limited character Liverpudlians often relate to, creating a cult hero who in a short but eventful spell provided a series of memorable moments which are still regarded with fondness and no little amusement.

The spring of 1990 saw Kenny Dalglish’s Reds chasing the ‘double Double’ for third successive season as they sought to repeat their feat of the Scot’s first year in charge as player-manager in 1985/86 when they came become only the third club that century and fifth ever to secure both of English football’s top honours in the same campaign.

The aftermath however of the previous April’s Hillsborough tragedy when 97 Liverpool supporters were unlawfully killed in Europe’s worst ever sporting disaster hung heavy. When the football season concluded after a period of mourning, the Reds players -having attended funerals and counselled the bereaved and injured as best they could -were compelled by the Football Association to play their remaining eight matches within 23 days and won the FA Cup in an emotional and dramatic extra-time victory over Merseyside neighbours Everton before losing their championship to Arsenal in the last seconds of the season when the title contenders met in the final match of a marathon and seismic campaign at Anfield on May 26.

After a summer of rest and reflection, regaining the league title was number one priority for Dalglish and his men and they served early notice as to their intentions with a 9-0 annihilation of newly-promoted Crystal Palace in September, the club’s biggest ever victory in the First Division, to go top. They would remain there much of the campaign aside from a couple of short periods in late autumn and early spring but never with the kind of points lead and rarely the authority which marked their 1988 procession to glory, meaning the manager was on the look-out for new blood to freshen up his attacking options and bolster his squad for the business end of the season.

Meanwhile, in the unlikely surroundings of Belgium, a 26-year-old Israeli international striker was kicking his heels having been told by Standard Liege to find himself a new club. Ronny Rosenthal had grown up next to his local team Maccabi Haifa’s Kiryat Eliezer stadium and quickly become a favourite due to his startling pace, penetrating runs and eye for goal, helping Haifa to their historic first championship in 1985 before moving to northern Europe to sign for Club Brugge the following year. He helped them to league title in 1988 but was sold to Standard Liege that summer and by December 1989 had fallen out of favour and found himself surplus to requirements.

Rosenthal had become one of Israel’s most prominent players and that autumn had been part of the national team which narrowly lost 1-0 in a two-legged play-off to a Colombia side featuring Carlos Valderrama and Rene Higuita who qualified instead for the following summer’s World Cup in Italy, and his difficulties in Belgium -where a number of Israeli internationals plied their trade -came to the attention of one of the country’s top agents who had connections at Liverpool.

Pini Zahavi ultimately became known as one of football’s most powerful deal-brokers after building friendships with the likes of Kenny Dalglish, Graeme Souness, Alex Ferguson and Terry Venables, being involved with a number of high-profile transfers in the Premier League era as well as playing a role in Roman Abramovich’s takeover of Chelsea and Alexandre Gaydamak’s of Portsmouth. His first ever deal though was the late Avi Cohen’s move from Maccabi Tel Aviv to Anfield in 1979 and happened while Zahavi was a journalist with a keen interest in English football working for Israeli newspapers which remained his main profession until 1988 who had a chance encounter with Liverpool club secretary, Peter Robinson.

“From an early age I was mad on English football and used to travel there to watch games”, he told the Blizzard years later. “I was a Liverpool supporter and one year I went to see the Christmas fixtures and on the way back home got stuck at the airport due to the weather. The airline took us to a hotel in central London until the weather improved and there I saw Peter Robinson, Liverpool’s secretary. I approached him and said that there was a fantastic player in Israel, Avi Cohen, that I thought could help the team.”

Rosenthal had been left devastated when after signing a contract subject to a medical with Udinese the Italian club pulled out of deal citing a back problem which the Israeli felt was a cover for the fact they decided to pursue Argentine striker Abel Balbo and Zahavi, keen to help his compatriot jump-start his career, came close to securing a deal with Spaniards Espanyol then got him a trial with First Division Luton Town where he made a good impression but the Hatters didn’t have enough money to buy him. The have-boots-will-travel forward also took part in a training match for Scottish side Hibernian against Rangers but neither side was prepared to take a gamble on an out-of-work Israeli and options were looking thin on the ground with the late season transfer deadline day looming when Zahavi took a call from Kenny Dalglish who said he was looking for a fast, physical player with fight in his game.

“When I heard that I immediately offered Ronnie to him”, Zahavi said. “I knew he was looking for a team and I thought that he was the right player for Kenny. He left an excellent impression during the training session. He was fresh and lively while they were totally knackered.”

Three goals in three games for Liverpool reserves followed and were enough for Dalglish to agree a loan move until the end of the season, only the second time the Reds had ever been involved in such a deal after Ian Rush’s 12-month return to Anfield following his £3.2 transfer to Juventus agreed in the summer of 1986.

Rosenthal was confident he could take the chance to prove himself on the big stage but told the ECHO years later, “I was enthusiastic to come because as a player you believe in your own ability. I felt in my own mind that I was able to operate at a level to stay there but it was a new culture for me and my English was not the best. Kenny was comfortable in offering me a...