Khaberni - Spanish club Barcelona was very close to signing Portuguese Cristiano Ronaldo before he joined their rival Real Madrid.
Cristiano Ronaldo joined Real Madrid in 2009 from Manchester United, and stayed there for 9 years, becoming the club's all-time top scorer.
But like David Beckham, many Real Madrid stars were very close to wearing the Barcelona jersey.
A 23-year-old story
Jorge Mendes, Cristiano Ronaldo's former agent, previously stated that Barcelona was among the clubs interested in signing the Don in the summer of 2003 from Sporting Lisbon, Portugal, but the deal did not go through.
Mendes explained in his statements: "In 2003, Cristiano had only one year left with Sporting Lisbon. At that time, we received offers from Juventus, Inter Milan, Milan, Real Madrid, Barcelona, and Valencia."
He continued: "Everyone wanted Cristiano, without exception.. but they all wanted him to stay an additional year and then sign him the following season."
Regarding the contractual value of that deal, Mendes clarified: "They were preparing the contracts, and one of them offered me 8 million. Any other agent would have said: Okay, we can accept this offer."
About the reason the deal stalled, he commented: "I called Chris and told him: 'Come here, the most important thing for you now is your career, not the money'."
What made Mendes agree to sell the Portuguese goal machine to United, he said: "Sir Alex Ferguson promised me that Ronaldo would play at least 50% of the matches."
And he concluded: "That was the key. He played for Manchester United when he was 18 years old.. This is the story, nothing is impossible, nothing at all."
According to what Jorge recounted, this deal that did not happen with Cristiano Ronaldo moving to Barcelona could have radically changed history.
Back then, Ronaldo would not have become the all-time top scorer of Real Madrid with 451 goals, and the French Karim Benzema, who scored 354 goals, would have become the club’s all-time top scorer.
Nor would the Don have achieved 4 UEFA Champions League titles with Real, as he later did between 2014 and 2018 when he won the trophy in his last years at Santiago Bernabeu.
And perhaps Barcelona would not have allowed the rise of Lionel Messi or given him the opportunity he got in 2004 to move up to the first team, especially since Messi and Ronaldo at that time played on the wings and their closeness in age could have made them rivals.
In that case, the fate of the living legend Lionel Messi, Barcelona's top scorer and owner of 35 titles with Barca, might have been different.
Even Ronaldo himself would not have created his golden history at the Bernabeu; instead, Barca might have been the team that achieved the 16 championships he won in the Spanish capital.
