Imagine if Cristiano Ronaldo joined Barcelona from Sporting Lisbon? Or he swapped Manchester United for Barcelona instead of Real Madrid in 2009?
According to former Los Blancos president Roman Calderon, Sir Alex Ferguson wanted Cristiano Ronaldo to join the Blaugrana in 2009, as he did not like the idea of his talisman representing Real Madrid.
Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi as teammates?
Speaking to AS, the former president revealed that the move to bring Cristiano Ronaldo to the Santiago Bernabeu was a difficult one, as the Scotsman tried his best to convince the Portuguese international to the Camp Nou instead.
If Cristiano Ronaldo had joined Barcelona at the time, he would have joined forces with arch-rival Lionel Messi at the Catalan club. However, Ronaldo was clear that he only wanted to join Real Madrid and a move eventually materialized in 2009, as he joined the club for a then world-record fee of £80 million.
That wasn’t the only time Barcelona missed out on Cristiano Ronaldo. In 2003, the player was offered to the Blaugrana by an agent, but the reigning La Liga champions were unwilling to cough up the cash for him at the time.
Former Barcelona president Joan Laporta confirmed that Cristiano Ronaldo was one of the players offered to the club in 2003 in an interview with Marca.
Cristiano Ronaldo was close to joining Barcelona twice in his career, but the Portuguese international joined Manchester United and Real Madrid instead. Who knows what could have been if he became teammates with Lionel Messi in their formative years?
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