According to the Sun, Manchester United and Real Madrid legend Cristiano Ronaldo almost signed for Valencia way back in 2006. Ronaldo was not yet an established Manchester United player at the time and was expected to be on his way out of the club after a controversy at the 2006 World Cup.
The Portuguese ace had an altercation with Manchester United teammate Wayne Rooney in a World Cup match between Portugal and England which ultimately resulted in the Englishman being shown a red card. Portugal went on to win that match and Ronaldo became public enemy no.1 in England.
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Booed often back at home in Manchester, Ronaldo then at the age of 21 was on the verge of joining Valencia and had even agreed personal terms with the club according to reports. According to the local paper Super Deporte, the club had almost finalised the deal and were just waiting to make it official.
At the time, Valencia were one of Spain’s leading football clubs having just finished third in the La Liga. The Manchester United winger had just an FA Cup and League Cup in 3 seasons at Old Trafford and was reportedly interested in playing alongside players like David Villa and Pablo Aimar.
Things were not all rosy in the Red Devils’ dressing room with the departure of Ruud Van Nistelrooy as well but Sir Alex Ferguson convinced the 21-year-old to stay at the club and what a decision that turned out to be.
Ronaldo returned that summer with a point to prove and was named PFA player of the year and Young Player of the Year as United managed a first title in 4 seasons. The following year proved to be even more fruitful for the youngster as he found the net a remarkable 42 times in all competitions and led Manchester United to Champions League success as well as bagging the coveted Ballon d'Or award.
Ronaldo, now established as a United great and adored by the fans led them to another title the following season before finally calling time on his Old Trafford career to move to La Liga giants Real Madrid for a then world record fee.
Like Arsenal who almost signed the superstar before he joined United, it is a case of so near yet so far. To make matters worse for Los Che, Ronaldo has since then netted 10 times against them.
