Manchester City have had their fair share of transfer near misses over the years.
Some of these near misses have been very high-profile – Manchester City bid for Lionel Messi back in 2008, while others, have been slightly more low-key, Phil Jones nearly signed for Man City in 2011.
However, back in 2021, City nearly pulled off one of the most high-profile transfers of all-time as they tried to make a stunning swoop for Cristiano Ronaldo.
City were in for Ronaldo, but, ultimately, the striker would end up returning to Manchester United instead.
It was claimed around that time that City had rejected Ronaldo, but, according to the player himself, the deal was close to being done.
Speaking in his interview with Piers Morgan a couple of years ago, Ronaldo shared what really happened when City tried to sign him in 2021.
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What really happened when Manchester City tried to sign Cristiano Ronaldo
Ronaldo spoke about his potential move to City.
The striker says that he was close to joining City, but a conversation with Alex Ferguson persuaded him to head to Old Trafford instead.
“Honestly, it was close,” Ronaldo said.
“They spoke a lot and [Manchester boss Pep] Guardiola said two weeks ago that they tried hard to have me..
“But, as you know, my history is in Manchester United. Your heart, you’re feeling the way you did before, and it made the difference. And of course, as well, Sir Alex Ferguson. It was a conscious decision because the heart speaks loud in that moment.
“And as you mentioned before, Sir Alex Ferguson was the key. I spoke with him. He said to me that, ‘It’s impossible for you to come to Manchester City’. And I said ‘Ok, boss’.
“So I took the decisions and I repeat, I was with conscience that it was a good decision.”
Cristiano Ronaldo record vs Manchester City
Cristiano Ronaldo is one of the greatest players of all-time, but, interestingly he never seemed to perform all that well against Manchester City.
Ronaldo has a remarkable goalscoring ratio during his career, but, strangely, he hasn’t had the best goalscoring record against City over the years.
| Cristiano Ronaldo record vs Manchester City | |
|---|---|
| Games | 15 |
| Goals | 5 |
| Assists | 2 |
| Goals per game | 0.33 |
Remarkably, Ronaldo has scored almost as many goals against Manchester United as he has against City, despite playing a significantly fewer number of games.
| Cristiano Ronaldo record vs Manchester United | |
|---|---|
| Games | 5 |
| Goals | 3 |
| Assists | 0 |
| Goals per game | 0.6 |
City have signed some of the biggest names in world football over the past 20 years, from Robinho to Erling Haaland, but Ronaldo would perhaps have been the biggest name of the bunch had he arrived at the Etihad back in 2021.
