Revealing why Barcelona refused to sign Ronaldo in 2003
The Spanish newspaper "Marca" reported today that the history of Barcelona during the past 17 years, and perhaps the journey of the Argentine magician and star of the team Lionel Messi, would have been different if the Portuguese star, Cristiano Ronaldo, had actually been contracted.
The newspaper quoted statements of former club president Juan Laporta, and the current most prominent candidate for the club’s presidency, as saying that the club was very close to hiring Ronaldo in the summer of 2003, and that they refused the offer in the end, in order to include Brazilian Ronaldinho, who is then coming from the French Paris Saint-Germain team .
Laporta said that shortly after the Portuguese club, Sporting Lisbon, agreed on the transfer of Ronaldo to Man United, Ronaldo's agent, Mendes, spoke to them and told them that he could cancel the agreement with the English club because it had not been officially completed, in exchange for allowing Ronaldo to move to Barcelona for 17 million euros. Although the contract with the English, with the support of the legendary coach at the time, Alex Ferguson, amounted to 19 million euros.
Laporta added: For us in Barcelona, Ronaldo needed more spaces to play, the way he played and his movement, we did not see that it suits the Barcelona method, so we were confident that Ronaldinho was the player we want, so we refused the offer and contracted with the Brazilian.
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