Barcelona’s club president, Joan Laporta has failed to deny reports that the club were offered the chance to sign Cristiano Ronaldo from Manchester United.
Since Ronaldo handed in a transfer request at United, he has been linked with a host of different clubs across the continent, including Barcelona.
However, the Catalan giants signed Robert Lewandowski from Bayern Munich which essentially ruled them out of the race for Ronaldo’s signature.
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Speaking to CBS Sports, Laporta spoke about reports linking the five time Ballon d’Or winner to Camp Nou, but insisted that Lewandowski was the club’s top priority.
He said: “Well, this type of story is all within the process of the summer window. There always appears a lot of news. But in the end the truth is we wanted Lewandowski.
“We have a very good relationship with Jorge Mendes. I have known him for a long time. He is one of the best player agents. He knows how to do his job and I respect him. In this case, we decided to go for Lewandowski and knew he was crucial to our success.
“So we went to Bayern instead. This is the reality. The other [Ronaldo] topic is just part of the "little history" of football. It's a very nice story, but you will always hear lots of contradictory news about it.”
Laporta was then quizzed on whether he thought about signing Ronaldo, to which he gave a cagey reply.
He said: “Ronaldo is a very good professional and he's still so fit. He's a player who is very ambitious and competitive and I am sure he has a lot of options.
“He's still a player of Manchester United, an extraordinary club who I respect very much. His future is not my business. It's the business of Manchester United and Cristiano.”
Ronaldo is looking to leave United due to their lack of Champions League football, Erik ten Hag’s side will instead be playing in the Europa League after they finished sixth in the Premier League last season.
The Portugal legend is eager to play in Europe’s premier club competition as he looks to cement himself as the top scorer in Champions League history.
United however are adamant that he is not for sale and according to Ten Hag, Ronaldo is in his plans for the new season.
Will he be granted his wish and get a move away from United? Only time will tell.
Topics: Cristiano Ronaldo, Manchester United, Barcelona, Joan Laporta, Manchester United Transfer News & Rumours
Marcus Chan