Real Madrid legend Cristiano Ronaldo was offered to Barcelona before leaving Manchester United for Los Blancos in 2009, according to sensational reports from Spain.
The Juventus and Portugal superstar left the Red Devils in a record £80m move after winning three Premier League titles, the Champions League and a host of other honours with Sir Alex Ferguson’s team.
He joined the ranks at the Santiago Bernabeu alongside Liverpool star Xabi Alonso and Ballon d’Or winner Kaka as Los Blancos looked to bounce back after Pep Guardiola’s phenomenal debut season with Barcelona.
However, things could have panned out so differently for the Sporting academy product - had Ferguson had his way.
United’s legendary manager was loath to lose the winger to Real Madrid after saying in 2008 that he wouldn’t sell the club a “virus” - and he realised that Barca were the only other club who could afford his services.
And according to Spanish outlet AS, Ferguson contacted the Catalan club to urge them to bid for Ronaldo only to find that he was already set on a move to Real.
Had Ronaldo not already been on the cusp of his dream move to Los Blancos, a move to Barcelona could have brought an era of success never seen before in European football.
After winning all six trophies they competed for in the 2008-09 season, Guardiola’s team may have kicked on to dominate Europe for countless years had Ronaldo joined Lionel Messi in attack.
In the end, Barcelona’s biggest move of the 2009 summer transfer window was the notorious swap deal with Inter Milan in which Samuel Eto’o departed and Zlatan Ibrahimovic arrived at Camp Nou
Meanwhile, Ronaldo went on to score 33 goals in all competitions in the 2009-10 campaign but was unable to topple Barca at the top of La Liga until the 2011-12 season.
