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Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo came close to joining Premier League side Arsenal in 2003 after falling ‘in love with the club’ but the Gunners were unable to come up with the funds to complete the deal, as per journalist Guillem Balague’s account on Telegraph. Ronaldo was also close to signing for Liverpool before rivals Manchester United sealed his signature.
The 30-year-old was then regarded as one of the hottest prospects in Europe after breaking through at boyhood club Sporting Lisbon and he was closely watched by Europe’s elite clubs. Premier League clubs - Arsenal, Liverpool and United were all keen on landing him at their own respective clubs, but the latter swooped for him in 2003 before anyone else did.
The Real Madrid icon went on to complete a transfer to Old Trafford, but in a passage from his new book, Cristiano Ronaldo: The Biography, Guillem Balague has revealed that Gunners coach Arsene Wenger had come close to disrupting United’s plans.
According to Balague, the French coach sent his chief scout Stever Rowley to Lisbon to closely monitor Ronaldo’s situation before the Portuguese star traveled to London for meetings with the manager and club legend Thierry Henry.
Ronaldo’s agent Jorge Mendes was clearly aware of the value of his client’s next move would pose. Mendes is quoted, saying that he ‘really thought his client would go on to sign for Arsenal’ when he traveled to London.
“We were in a car and Jorge kept calling me to reiterate I had to make sure nobody saw me.” Ronaldo revealed in his book.
“We stopped at a service station and I had to have my face covered. Jorge was calling me every five minutes: ‘Be careful, be careful around people!’”
Apparently, the Portugal captain was impressed by what the club had to offer and was sure he wanted to sign with them. However, the North London club failed to agree on a deal with Lisbon, due to the lack of funds available at the club after moving to the Emirates Stadium.
Premier League rivals United, managed by Sir Alex Ferguson back then, entered the race to sign the Portuguese starlet gained an advantage over Arsenal by offering further incentives to the Portuguese giants
“The mistake by Arsenal was that, despite the very advanced negotiations, nothing was signed,” the journalist revealed.
“Meanwhile, Manchester United agreed to play Sporting Lisbon in a friendly that very summer.”
