The inside story of Arsenal transfer bid to sign Cristiano Ronaldo amid Sir Alex Ferguson hijack

The inside story of Arsenal transfer bid to sign Cristiano Ronaldo amid Sir Alex Ferguson hijack

Cristiano Ronaldo has had an incredible career at Manchester United, Real Madrid and Juventus – but things could have been quite different if the Portuguese star signed for Arsenal in 2003

When Cristiano Ronaldo turned 18, he had the world at his feet. The super-talented teenager had just finished his first season at Sporting Lisbon and was in high-demand.

The tricky winger, who in 2003 boasted wavy black hair with blonde highlights, along with shiny earrings, scored five goals and set up four more in 31 appearances for the Portuguese side. But it was his flamboyant style which really caught the eye of Europe’s big boys………Continue Reading

Gerard Houllier at Liverpool was an admirer. Joan Laporta was equally as keen at Barcelona. Even Italian giants Juventus were interested.

It’s said that Inter Milan legend Sandro Mazzola was so in awe of the young superstar that he requested the Inter hierarchy to sign Ronaldo but they felt he “was not worth all that money”. Some mistake that turned out to be.

Of course, Ronaldo eventually moved to Manchester United in August 2003 in a deal worth £12.2million, just days after the winger featured for Sporting against Sir Alex Ferguson’s side in a pre-season friendly. His impact was so big members of the United squad begged Ferguson and chief executive Peter Kenyon to sign him just hours afterwards.

“We have been negotiating for Cristiano for quite some time, but the interest in him from other clubs accelerated in the last few weeks so we had to move quickly to get him,” Ferguson said at the time, as per 90Min. “He is an extremely talented footballer, a two-footed attacker who can play anywhere up front: right, left or through the middle.

“After we played Sporting last week the lads in the dressing room talked about him constantly, and on the plane back from the game they urged me to sign him – that’s how highly they rated him. He is one of the most exciting young players I’ve ever seen.”

Ferguson’s assessment was of course right. At the Red Devils the Madeira-born winger won three Premier League titles, one Champions League, one FA Cup, two League Cups, one Club World Cup and one Community Shield. He also won a number of individual awards during his first stint at the club, including the Ballon d’Or, FIFA World Player of the Year and PFA Players’ Player of the Year.

But it could have been so different. As well as Liverpool, Barcelona, Juventus and Inter Milan expressing interest in Ronaldo when he was just a teenager, Arsenal were also keen.

The Gunners had been keeping tabs on the Portuguese as a youngster, and seemed to be on the verge of signing the then 18-year-old in the summer of 2003. Arsene Wenger was very keen on making a move happen, as was former Arsenal vice-chairman David Dein.

“I was asked by our chief scout if I would go with him to see a young boy playing for Portugal Under-18s, and he was only 16,” Dein told Sky Sports News a number of years ago.

“You can imagine who that young guy was. It was Cristiano Ronaldo. The following day Manchester United came and blew us out the water. These things happen.”

Wenger had just witnessed his Arsenal side finish second in the Premier League in the 2002/03 season, losing out to Man United by five points. The Frenchman was keen to add extra firepower in the attacking areas to complement the likes of Freddie Ljungberg, Robert Pires, Dennis Bergkamp and Thierry Henry.

Ronaldo was identified as a top target and Wenger was determined to get a deal over the line. The legendary manager even had lunch with the teenager and his mum at Arsenal’s training ground.

In an interview with The Guardian in 2020, Wenger was asked who he regretted not signing the most. He explained: “Oof! I would say there is not one player, there are 50! On the other hand, maybe the closest [to that] was Cristiano Ronaldo, when he signed for Man United. We had an agreement with Sporting and Man United took Carlos Queiroz as assistant coach, and they just outbid us quickly and took Ronaldo.

“But we had an agreement basically. He had the shirt of Arsenal, I had lunch with him and his mother at the training ground! It’s one example but there were so many. The history of a big club is full of missed great players!”

Ronaldo himself has previously spoken out on his failed move to Arsenal, admitting that a transfer was “very close”. In an interview with Piers Morgan in 2019 which aired on ITV, the Portuguese superstar spoke of how he was just “one step” away from putting pen to paper in north London.

Asked if he almost signed for Arsenal, Ronaldo admitted: “It’s true. Very close. One stop, incredible. Seriously.” After Gunners fan Morgan pressed Ronaldo for an apology for choosing United over Arsenal, the winger jokingly said: “I want to apologise, OK. Forgive me for not joining Arsenal.”

Ronaldo added that he was also grateful for Arsenal’s interest, and appreciated the effort Wenger went to try and sign him. “It didn’t happen but, Arsenal, I appreciate what they did for me,” the Portuguese icon said. “Especially Arsene Wenger – but you know football and in football you never know.”

Ronaldo, now 37, went into even more detail in 2010, and revealed he met Wenger on three occasions prior to signing for United. Speaking to GQ magazine, as per FourFourTwo, he said: “It’s true. I was an inch away from signing for Arsenal.

“I saw Arsene Wenger three times with my mother. It was very close to being a done deal. After I signed for United, she and I were sitting watching a Premier League game on television and she yelled out, ‘I know that guy – I liked him.’”

According to Ronaldo’s agent, Jorge Mendes, a number of Europe’s top clubs wanted to sign Ronaldo in his younger years – but it was only Arsenal and Man United who made an attempt in 2003. Speaking to GQ, the superagent said: “This is what really happened. Everyone wanted Cristiano – Real, Juventus, Barcelona. But only Arsenal and Manchester United attempted to take him from Sporting Lisbon that season. The others wanted to leave him at Sporting at least a year.

“But with United, everything was in place already, since an agreement had been reached the day before the match [a friendly between Manchester United and Sporting].”

It appears wages may have been a factor, too. That’s what Ronaldo suggested anyway while he was playing for Real Madrid.

“The reason I went to United was because they were the team that made me the best offer. I had never been to Manchester before, but what helped me was that my mother lived with me, my family visited a lot and I made friends with the players,” he said.

Instead of playing for Arsenal, Ronaldo has haunted them on a number of occasions, scoring nine times in 18 appearances against the Gunners. Perhaps his most memorable appearance was in the second leg of the Champions League semi-final in the 2008/09 season. He scored twice and assisted another in a 3-1 win for Manchester United at the Emirates Stadium to knock the Gunners out of the competition.

More than 12 years after that performance, Ronaldo found himself up against Arsenal once again, this time in the Premier League at Old Trafford in September 2022. He started as a substitute but was introduced in the 58th minute by Erik ten Hag, and while he did not score or assist, he helped United to a 3-1 win.

Even at the age of 37, Ronaldo still appears to be making Arsenal rue that failed transfer all those years ago. It remains unclear if the now-ageing attacker will be given further chances to heap misery on the north Londoners, however.

That’s because the Portuguese international has been dropped from the Man United squad after refusing to come on in his side’s 2-0 win against Tottenham on Wednesday. He was seen by TV cameras storming down the touchline before the full-time whistle, and left Old Trafford early while his teammates celebrated the victory. As a result, Ronaldo will not be a part of the Red Devils squad who travel to Chelsea on Saturday.

The forward has since issued a statement on Instagram saying he will continue “working hard” and “be ready for everything in any given game”. “I’m the same person and the same professional that I’ve been for the last 20 years playing elite football, and respect has always played a very important role in my decision-making process. I started very young, the older and most experienced players’ examples were always very important to me,” the statement read.

“Therefore, later on, I’ve always tried to set the example myself for the youngsters that grew in all the teams that I’ve represented. Unfortunately that’s not always possible and sometimes the heat of the moment gets the best of us.

“Right now, I just feel that I have to keep working hard in Carrington, support my teammates and be ready for everything in any given game. Giving in to the pressure is not an option.

“It never was. This is Manchester United, and united we must stand. Soon we’ll be together again.”

At this stage it remains unclear if we will ever see Ronaldo wear a Manchester United shirt again. Maybe, for Arsenal’s sake, that’s not so much of a bad thing.