Cristiano Ronaldo reveals club who tried to sign him before Man Utd in transfer that would've changed history

Cristiano Ronaldo has revealed a club 'tried to sign' him while he was still playing for Sporting CP.

Ronaldo, 39, boasts one of the most successful playing careers in the history of the game.

He has played for the biggest clubs in England, Spain and Italy – Manchester United, Real Madrid and Juventus – and sports seven league titles just to name a few of his achievements.

The five-time Ballon d’Or winner is currently playing for Al-Nassr in the Saudi Pro League following his exit from United after a feud with then-manager Erik ten Hag in the winter of 2022.

Some fans even think he aimed a dig at Ten Hag, 55, in a recent interview with Edu Aguirre on El Chiringuito de Jugones.

"I learned from all my coaches. I had some really bad ones," he said. "Guys who don't have a f**king clue about football..."

During the interview, Ronaldo opened up about a wide range of topics and one part in particular caught the attention of fans.

Of course, he's arguably the greatest player to have worn the white shirt of Real Madrid and scored 451 goals in 438 competitive appearances for Los Blancos – averaging over a goal per game.

Cristiano Ronaldo is still playing at nearly 40 years old (Credit:Getty)

However, he revealed things could have been very different. Before he signed for the La Liga side he played for United between 2003 and 2009 and lit up the Premier League having previously been relatively unknown during his time at Sporting CP in his native Portugal.

And he had a decision to make ahead of his move to United in 2003, explaining how another huge European club “approached” him regarding a possible transfer while he still plying his trade at Sporting.

"It was a phase that was in Sporting and I was able to play for several clubs, one of them was Barca,” said Ronaldo. “A person spoke to me and approached me to hire me. But it didn’t happen.”

"I was able to sign for Barca,” he added.

"Maybe they wanted to take me the following year and Manchester United took me that minute. That’s how fate is.”

And despite missing out on playing for one of the most iconic clubs in Europe it is fair to say his first spell at United propelled him to new heights both on and off the field, with the decision ultimately proving to be the correct one.