The then 24-year-old was one of the most sought after players in the world at the time, but he opted for Liverpool in part because of a meeting with the coach at the time, Gerard Houllier.
Kewell's agent Mandic was heavily criticised for the role he played in the transfer that saw cash-strapped Leeds United only receive three million pounds ($A5.36m) , while Mandic himself pocketed two million ($A3.57m).
“Your client's best interests have to come first, and for all the supposed bad stuff I did with Harry Kewell, at the end of the day he had better offers from other clubs and he was the one who chose Liverpool rather than going to Chelsea, for example, or at that time Arsenal or Barcelona, because one, he loved the club, secondly, he felt that he had the best connection with Gerard Houlier compared with anyone else," Mandic told The Transfer Window podcast.
“Houlier put his best case forward personally whereas other clubs had sporting directors doing it and that made a substantial difference to his thinking."
Kewell spent five seasons at Liverpool playing 139 matches, however, he was plagued by injuries.
Ten days after Liverpool had signed Kewell, Barcelona announced they had signed another left-signed attacking midfielder in Ronaldinho. Meanwhile, Chelsea would sign left-wingers Damien Duff and Joe Cole that transfer window.
Arsenal went unbeaten in Kewell's debut season with Liverpool, with Robert Pires playing 46 games as their left-winger, scoring 19 goals.
