What’s the story?
Recent reports in Spanish publication Marca suggested that Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo had almost signed for Juventus in 2002, but the move didn’t go through because the Italian side failed to offload Chilean star Marcelo Salas, who refused to go the other way to Sporting Lisbon.
Gianni Di Marzio, who worked at Juventus at the time, revealed all in an interview with the Spanish paper. The Italian was in Lisbon having a look at Ricardo Quaresma but took a liking to Ronaldo instead.
“He [Ronaldo] was 18 when I worked at Juventus, I called my club and told them I'd seen someone who would be the best player in the world, obviously after Maradona," quipped Di Marzio.
"I negotiated and brought Cristiano over to Turin in 2002 to sign for Juve, but Salas didn't accept the terms of the swap. For just a few million Euros, Salas didn't want to leave and so Juventus lost out on Cristiano Ronaldo.”
In case you didn’t know...
Ronaldo began his career in Portugal with Sporting Lisbon's youth system, making his senior debut in 2002. A year later, he would go on to sign for Manchester United after catching the eye of Sir Alex Ferguson, in a friendly.
He has since gone on to become one of the best players in the world and has amassed four Ballon d’Ors, with the most recent one coming in 2016.
The heart of the matter
Juventus could have signed Ronaldo in 2002 before Manchester United, according to Di Marzio, who worked for the Turin club at that time. According to the Italian coach, media personality and football club consultant, he spotted Ronaldo first and almost signed the player for the Serie A giants – a move which could and would have re-written football history.
Ronaldo has gone on to achieve great heights as a footballer and is mentioned in the same breath as the greatest ever to have graced the game. The followers of Italian football, especially Juventus fans, could’ve been part of the development of one of the greatest players the game has ever seen.
Sportskeeda’s take
Cristiano Ronaldo would have lit up the Italian Serie A if he had moved to Turin in 2002. The impact he could have had in the Serie A would have changed Italian football forever as well. However, Juventus’ loss was Manchester United and then Real Madrid’s gain.
If Salas would have agreed to the deal and had Ronaldo moved to Juventus, the history of football and Manchester United would have been re-written. But as the saying goes, everything does happen for a reason.
Sir Alex Ferguson was a necessary guiding hand and Ronaldo’s time in England was an equally necessary stepping stone for him on his path to the very top of the game.
