According to Peter Kenyon, Manchester United were interested in Cristiano Ronaldo before Ronaldinho made a layup for Barcelona.
Man United wanted to sign Ronaldinho in Kenyon’s final year at Old Trafford, but the transfer fell through as the Brazilian superstar left the club. Paris Saint Germain for LaLiga instead.
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Barça President Joan Laporta wanted Man United’s David Beckham to the club, but the English star signed with real Madrid instead. The Spanish record holder then entered the race for Ronaldinho.
In the end, Barca outbid Man United with an offer of 30 million euros.
That summer, the Red Devils snapped up Ronaldo as their star player instead, and some fans believed that the then Sporting Lisbon star only came because Ronaldinho didn’t.
But former Manchester United chairman Kenyon insists that was not the case, explaining that they wanted him anyway, even before Ronaldinho said no and a deal was done for him before United played Sporting in a pre-season friendly.
“No, it was not a coincidence,” he said, addressing these assumptions in Man United legend Rio Ferdinand’s podcast “Rio Ferdinand Presents.”
“We had completed the deal for Ronaldo. We had brought him in earlier than we expected.”
When asked if Man United knew about Sporting’s young talents and were interested in Ronaldinho at the same time, he said: “Yes, definitely.”
“I always thought we didn’t get Ronaldinho,” Ferdinand interjected, clarifying what he and many Man United fans believed. “And I remember [Sir Alex Ferguson] devastated on the training ground.
“‘He’s not coming, he’s going to Barca. I think they’ve finished us off.’ Then I didn’t hear any murmuring about anyone else.
“Then we play against Sporting in the stadium and leave the stadium knowing that we have signed him. But I thought that was just a reaction to that performance.”
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“Not at all,” said Kenyon. “So we’re coming from the preseason in America and we’re going to Sporting. You have to remember that, okay, it was preseason…”
Then Ferdinand interjected: “Yes, he was unreal.”
“We had previously done a deal for Ronaldo despite a lot of competition,” said Kenyon. “And I was there to do it. The plan was for him to stay at Sporting for another 12 months.”
“He wanted to play football and develop. Players have to play football to develop, not sit on the bench of the first team.”
“And he knew it – he was 17, right. He still wanted to play every game, right? Like everyone else.
“But he absolutely destroyed us in the first half and I got a call. It was Roy Keane and Giggsy, it made it very clear that we had to take this boy home.
“So we stayed and even renegotiated the contract so that he could come to United this year. That was not a reaction to Ronaldinho.”
When asked if they would have signed Ronaldo even if the transfer of Ronaldinho had gone through, Kenyon said yes, but Ronaldo would have stayed at Sporting for another year.
Ronaldo made a total of 346 appearances for Man United in two terms.
He scored 145 goals and provided 54 assists and won the Champions League, three Premier League titles, two League Cups and an FA Cup.
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