Cristiano Ronaldo almost joined Liverpool instead of Man Utd but major error prevented transfer from happening

Cristiano Ronaldo nearly joined Manchester United's historic Premier League rivals Liverpool but lost out due to one key demand.

Ronaldo agreed a £12.24 million move from Sporting Lisbon to United in 2003 in what is viewed as one of the most successful transfers of all time.

The five time Ballon d'Or winner won three consecutive Premier League titles, the Champions League and the FIFA Club World Cup while at the Old Trafford club, cementing himself as one of, if not the greatest player United have ever seen.

He later packed his bags for Real Madrid in 2009, where he went on to win a further four Champions League trophies and become the club's all-time record goalscorer.

In 2018, Ronaldo joined Juventus for a reported fee of £88 million, where he spent three seasons before returning to Manchester United in what proved to be a troublesome period.

The move ended with an explosive interview in which the Portuguese superstar blasted manager Erik ten Hag, sealing his sour exit. However, things could have been very different had he joined Liverpool.

The Reds were said to be keen on signing Ronaldo while he was playing for Sporting Lisbon. Although, then-manager Gerrard Hollier decided that the teenager's wage demands were too high.

"I saw [Ronaldo] in the Toulon under-21 tournament and we went for him," he said (quotes via The Express). "But we had a wage scale and we weren't paying the sort of salary he wanted.

"Then Manchester United played a friendly against Sporting Lisbon and all their boys said to Sir Alex Ferguson: 'You have to sign him'. But I agreed with not breaking the wage structure. I thought it would cause problems in our dressing room."

That same year he signed a deal with reigning Premier League champions Manchester United and the rest is history.

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Topics: Cristiano Ronaldo, Liverpool, Football, Manchester United, Premier League

Joe Adams

Joe is a Journalist for SPORTbible with a primary focus on football. He has previously covered a number of other sports including boxing, rugby and F1. Wishes he was born left-footed.

@joeadamsjourno