Former Manchester United manager Peter Kenyon debunks myth surrounding Cristiano Ronaldo and Ronaldinho transfers
Manchester United were interested in Cristiano Ronaldo before Ronaldinho turned them down and left for Barcelona, according to Peter Kenyon.
Manchester United wanted to sign Ronaldinho in Kenyon's final year at Old Trafford, but the move failed to materialise and the Brazilian superstar left. Paris Saint-Germain for LaLiga instead.
President of Barça Joan Laporta I wanted to bring Manchester United David Beckham to the club, but the English star signed for real Madrid Instead, the Spanish giants then entered the race for Ronaldinho.
In the end, Barça outbid Manchester United with an offer of 30 million euros.
That summer, the Red Devils took over the team. Ronaldo as the marquee signing, leading some fans to believe the then Sporting Lisbon star only joined because Ronaldinho didn't.
But former Manchester United chief executive Kenyon insists this was not the case, claiming they were interested in him anyway, even before Ronaldinho said no and a deal was agreed for him before United played Sporting in a pre-season friendly.
“No, it wasn't a fluke,” he said, referring to those assumptions about Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand.Rio Ferdinand presents' podcast.
“We had already closed the deal for Ronaldo. We had signed him earlier than we expected.”
Asked if Manchester United were aware of Sporting's young talent while they were interested in Ronaldinho, he said: “Yes, for sure.”
“I always thought we didn't sign Ronaldinho,” Ferdinand chimed in, clarifying what he and many Manchester United fans believed had happened. “And I remember[Sir Alex Ferguson]being devastated at the training ground.
“'He's not coming, he's going to Barça, I think they've finished us off'. I didn't hear any murmurs about anyone else then.
“Then we played against Sporting at the stadium and we left the stadium knowing that we had signed him. But I thought it was just a reaction to that performance.”
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“No, not at all,” said Kenyon. “We came out of pre-season in the United States and we went to Sporting. You have to remember that it was pre-season…”
Then Ferdinand stepped in and said, “Yeah, it was amazing.”
“We had already done a deal with Ronaldo before that, against a lot of competition,” Kenyon said. “And I was there to do it. The plan was for him to stay at Sporting for another 12 months.
“I wanted to play football and progress. Players need to play football to progress, not just sit on the bench in the first team.”
“And I was very clear about it: I was 17, right? I wanted to play every game, right? Like everyone else.
“But in the first half they beat us up and they called me out. Roy Keane and Giggsy made it very clear to us that we have to take this boy home with us.
“So we stayed and renegotiated the deal so he could come to United that year. It wasn’t a reaction to Ronaldinho.”
Asked if they would still have signed Ronaldo if Ronaldinho had gone ahead, Kenyon said yes, but the former would have stayed at Sporting for another year.
Ronaldo went on to make 346 appearances for Manchester United over two spells.
He scored 145 goals and provided 54 assists, as well as winning the Champions League, three Premier League titles, two League Cups and one FA Cup.
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