Champions League winner, La Liga/Serie A/Ligue 1 champion, European Championships runner up - Thiago Motta might be the ultimate 'one who got away' for Portsmouth fans.

The Italian midfielder was granted a trial at the club after being released by Atletico Mardrid in 2008 but Harry Redknapp decided against signing the future Inter Milan and PSG enforcer.

When he came to Hampshire for a trial, Motta already had two La Liga titles and a Champions League winners medal under his belt and came to a Pompey side fresh from winning the FA Cup.

This was a man who was used to winning and may have been the perfect partner for Lassana Diarra as Pompey looked to cement their place as a Premeir League side.

However, it may have been the performance of one Jordan Henderson, recent Premier League winning captain, who was part of the decision to not sign Motta.

In a friendly against a young Sunderland side in pre-season before the 2008/09 season, Motta was part of a Portsmouth side who, although winning 1-0, failed to impress and the Black Cats youth players ran the midfield.

In an interview with the Athletic, former Sunderland U21 coach Neil Bailey has spoken about his time at the cub and coaching Jordan Henderson, who Sunderland almost released as a 16-year-old.

The story explains how a midfield consisting of Henderson ran rings around Motta and co and how that led Harry Redknapp to think twice about the Italian.

It says: "He [Bailey] remember taking the U21s to the south coast for a training camp and a friendly against Portsmouth, when Harry Redknapp decided to field a much stronger team than expected.

"They night before in the hotel, Bailey asked his players to take part in a job description exercise where they had to describe their position and attached tasks before attempting to convince the rest of the team that the role was the most important in the team.

"Sunderland would dominate a Portsmouth XI that included Thiago Motta, who was on trial having been released by Atletico Madrid.

"Within 18 months, he was a Champions League winner with inter Milan. Henderson and Sunderland's midfield buzzed around him, nipping possession away and this prompted Redknapp to think again about the midfielder's suitability."

Injuries halted Motta's Atletico career and Harry Redknapp was taking a punt on the midfielder, but there is no doubting that he could have been a huge presence for Pompey had he signed.

He was a key part of Jose Mourinho's side which won the Champions League and treble 2009/10 and went on to make 231 appearances for French side PSG before retiring in 2018.