“It was actually lucky” - Rio Ferdinand admits ‘devastated’ Sir Alex Ferguson signed Cristiano Ronaldo after missing out on Barcelona icon
Former Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand has spoken about the time the Red Devils signed Cristiano Ronaldo.
The famously known story has had several recounts, and most reports indicated that United were originally chasing then-Paris-Saint Germain winger Ronaldinho. With the Brazilian choosing to join Barcelona, then United boss Sir Alex Ferguson decided to sign Cristiano Ronaldo.
Ferdinand spoke about the story on the The Obi One Podcast (via SportBible):
“It was actually lucky that we signed him (Ronaldo) because it was only on the disappointment of not signing Ronaldinho that summer. We tried to sign Ronaldinho, and he choose to leave Paris Saint-Germain and went to Barcelona. I remember the manager was devastated.”
Ronaldo joined United in 2003. In his six-year spell there, Ronaldo won three Premier League, one Champions League and one Ballon d'Or. He joined Real Madrid for a then-world-record fee of £80 million in 2009.
Rio Ferdinand recalls Manchester United's first impression of Cristiano Ronaldo
Before signing the Portuguese winger, Manchester United were scheduled to play a pre-season friendly against Sporting Lisbon, the club Ronaldo represented then.
The five-time Ballon d'Or winner rang rings around United's defence, particularly John O'Shea. Speaking about the Irish defender's troubles, Ferdinand said (via Sportbible):
"He was in bits, and he was sitting there panting. We were telling him to get closer to Ronaldo, and he couldn't even answer us. To be fair, me, Paul Scholes and Nicky Butt were standing there, going 'this kid's unbelievable, we've got to sign him'.
"We got on the coach, and we were delayed for about an hour and a half, and then they said they were doing a deal to sign Ronaldo now."
Cristiano Ronaldo's second spell at United lasted from the summer of 2021 to December 2023, when the player and the club mutually terminated his contract. Overall, he has registered 145 goals and 64 assists in 346 games across competitions for the Red Devils.