Cristiano Ronaldo had made a name for himself in England and Spain before moving to Juventus in 2018.
In Spain, he played for Real Madrid, but it has now been revealed that he could have played for Barcelona if things had turned out differently.
This is a revelation that former Barcelona president and candidate for the club’s next presidential elections, Joan Laporta, has just made.
He claimed that they had the chance to sign the attacker while he was still with Sporting Lisbon.
They had invested in Ronaldinho and Rafa Marquez when they were informed that Ronaldo was on his way to Manchester United for 19m euros, but they could sign him for 17m euros.
Barcelona turned down the offer to sign him and he moved to United where he would achieve legendary status before big-money moves to Real Madrid and Juventus.
He said : “We were taking Ronaldinho and Rafa Marquez, and the Mexican’s agents proposed Ronaldo. At that time the Portuguese played in Sporting”
“One of the agents told us that there was a player who was going to move to Manchester United for 19 million euros, but that he would be sold to us for 17 million.” continued Laporta
“But at that moment we had just made a big investment in Ronaldinho. Ronaldo played more on the wing than in the center of the attack, and in that area of the pitch we thought we were covered. So we refused, and I don’t regret it.”
Ronaldo has gone on to become best player of this era, while Barcelona eventually discovered Lionel Messi.
