Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Arsene Wenger (Photo by Philipp Schmidli, Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)
Former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has revealed he once came so close to pulling off a transfer that would’ve changed football history.
Speaking in a Q&A a few years ago, Wenger revealed he nearly signed Cristiano Ronaldo for Arsenal after agreeing a deal and having lunch with the player’s mother.
We all know what happened next, though, as Manchester United hijacked the deal and brought Ronaldo to Old Trafford instead.
The Frenchman has also previously mentioned coming close to some other major signings, such as Lionel Messi, Gareth Bale and Gerard Pique, but it seems Ronaldo stands out as the one he really thought he’d got wrapped up.
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“Oof! I would say there is not one player, there are 50 (I regret not signing)! On the other hand, maybe the closest was Cristiano Ronaldo, when he signed for Man United,” Wenger said.
“We had an agreement with Sporting and Man United took Carlos Queiroz as assistant coach, and they just outbid us quickly and took Ronaldo. But we had an agreement basically. He had the shirt of Arsenal, I had lunch with him and his mother at the training ground!
“It’s one example but there were so many. The history of a big club is full of missed great players!”
Cristiano Ronaldo at Arsenal – what if?
As fans prepare their plans for how to buy Man United vs Arsenal tickets for this weekend’s big game, perhaps some might be wondering how this fixture’s history could have been so different if this deal had worked out differently.
Ronaldo made the move to United in the summer of 2003, and Arsenal went Invincible as they won the Premier League title that season.
Still, it wasn’t too long before Sir Alex Ferguson had the Red Devils back on top, while Wenger’s Gunners went into decline.
The Portuguese superstar was a big part of United’s success, firing them to three Premier League titles in a row between 2007 and 2009, as well as winning the Champions League in that period.
Needless to say, Ronaldo could have been absolutely ideal to help Arsenal through that difficult period when they bid farewell to club legends in attack such as Thierry Henry, Dennis Bergkamp and Robert Pires.
Ronaldo went on to join Real Madrid, where he played some of the finest football of his career and won a further four Champions League titles – the kind of success Arsenal fans can only dream of.
Wenger had a great managerial career, but coming so close to signing an all-time great must be a major regret that keeps him up at night!
