Why Barcelona rejected €19m Ronaldo
FT Desk
- 6 Jul 2022 11:00 BST
- 3 min read
On Tuesday it was sensationally reported that Barcelona were in talks with Jorge Mendes over the possible signing of Cristiano Ronaldo this summer.
Ronaldo has requested to leave Manchester United, as he desires to play for a Champions League club with bigger ambitions and possibilities of winning major trophies.
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His agent Mendes has been offering him around to multiple clubs in Europe, including Chelsea, PSG, Bayern Munich, Roma, Napoli and others.
According to the media in Spain, Ronaldo has also been offered to Barcelona, with Mendes enjoying dinner with Barcelona president Joan Laporta on Monday evening.
Mendes has been working closely with Barcelona on several transfers since the return of Laporta as president last year. In addition to Ronaldo, they also discussed the future of Bernardo Silva, Rafael Leao and Ruben Neves.
A transfer to Barcelona for Ronaldo seems unlikely given that the Blaugrana are expected to sign Robert Lewandowski from Bayern Munich this summer.
And if they do decide to turn down the chance to sign Ronaldo, it would not be the first time during the Portuguese’s career.
Indeed, back in 2003, Laporta (above) was also offered the chance to sign Ronaldo during his first stint as president at Barcelona.
What did Laporta say?
“When we arrived, we signed Ronaldinho, Rafael Marquez and Ricardo Quaresma,” Laporta said.
“We were in a process of reconstruction. Cristiano was at Sporting CP and he was close to signing for Manchester United.
“The player’s agent, who was handling Marquez and Quaresma, said: 'I've got another really good player who’s called Cristiano Ronaldo'.
“We told him we knew about him and he offered him to us for two million cheaper than to United, who ended up paying 19 million [euros].”
Barcelona opted against signing Ronaldo and the rest, as they say, is history.
Cristiano went on to become one of the greatest players in history at Man Utd, Real Madrid and Juventus.
At the age of 37, he is now set to move on once again but a transfer to Madrid’s arch-rivals Barcelona would be a huge shock.
