Juventus superstar, Cristiano Ronaldo has revealed why he snubbed Arsenal during the regime of former Gunners manager, Arsene Wenger, for Manchester United.
Ronaldo said Wenger met up with him to facilitate his transfer from Sporting Lisbon to Arsenal in 2003 before Man United hijacked the deal after he featured in a friendly against them.
According to him, he was on the verge of joining Arsenal following interests from many clubs but Man United stepped up their efforts and secured his signature.
“There had been contacts with so many other teams, Valencia, for example, were one of them,” Ronaldo told TVI.
“I met with Arsene Wenger and was about to go to Arsenal. I talked to Barcelona, Real Madrid and Inter too but after the friendly against Manchester United, who were already interested, they became even more interested and they sped up negotiations and signed me.”
Man United signed Ronaldo in a £12.5million deal.
The 34-year-old took the No.7 shirt of the legendary David Beckham who had departed for Real Madrid.
