Manchester United were close to losing teenage Cristiano Ronaldo to Juventus, according to Italian agent Alessandro Moggi
Italian agent reveals he was contacted by super agent Jorge Mendes to move Ronaldo to Serie A but the youngster's stand out showing against United in friendly prompted Fergie to push through £12million deal
MANCHESTER UNITED were close to missing out on teenage Cristiano Ronaldo to Juventus.
The United boss Sir Alex Ferguson rushed through a deal for the Portuguese youngster after his stand out performance for Sporting Lisbon against the Premier League side in 2003.
But according to Italian agent Alessandro Moggi, the Italian giants were also in the mix for Ronaldo as his agent Jorge Mendes wanted help moving his client to Italy.
Moggi told Tuttosport: “In 2003, Mendes was looking to engineer a move for his first great player, Cristiano Ronaldo.
“He was a kid of 18 who had just made his debut for Sporting and Mendes wanted him to move to Italy.
“We tried to help them out and offered him to Parma and Lazio but he was rejected by both.
Latest Man Utd news
“He was obviously talented but he was too young for them and they were not convinced.
Juventus on the other hand said yes and sent us to Lisbon with Mendes to tie up the deal with Sporting.”
'THEM AGAINTS US' Is Jose Mourinho creating a problem with Man utd fans that is not there?
Once Juventus declared their interest in Ronaldo, they rushed to Lisbon to close as deal.
However, Moggi claims Jason Ferguson, son of then United boss Sir Alex, was in another hotel and had already tabled a £12million bid.
Moggi added: “In a matter of half a day, he became a United player.
“It was a deal that could have changed the history of European football.
“I thought about it a million times during the days I was in Lisbon.
“Seeing his attitude and how he handled himself I think he could still have been a Juventus player today.”
Ronaldo's move for Old Trafford made him the most expensive teenager in English football at the time and went on to win three Premier Leagues titles, Champions League and Club World Cup.
The Portuguese international moved to Real Madrid in 2009 for a world record fee of £80m and has gone on to win two La Liga titles and three Champions League triumphs.
Most read in Football
