Cristiano Ronaldo was all set to join Liverpool back in 2003 after agreeing to move to Anfield – but the Portugal talisman had other ideas and joined Manchester United
Ronaldo ended up at United where he enjoyed a trophy-laden career with the club (Image: NICOLAS ASFOURI/AFP via Getty Images)
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Former Liverpool chiefs Phil Thompson and Gerard Houllier were left “almost choking” over their lunch as they discovered Cristiano Ronaldo had decided to join Manchester United instead of them.
Back in 2003, Liverpool thought they had convinced the then prodigious talent Ronaldo to make a move to Anfield in a deal valued at a mere £4 million – equivalent to about £7 million today. Ronaldo was turning heads worldwide with his performances for Sporting Lisbon, and Liverpool were eager to bring him on board.
Thompson previously reminisced about a meal he shared with football agent Tony Henry in Lisbon, where they appeared to iron out the details of Ronaldo’s transfer to England. Yet, this agreement never materialised, and the future five-time Ballon d’Or winner chose to sign with Liverpool’s arch-rivals, Manchester United instead.
Speaking with The Athletic in 2020, Thompson recounted: “I can still remember Tony’s exact words. It was all very nice and relaxed. It’s £4million and it can be paid over the four years of his contract, so £1million a year. That seemed very reasonable. Then I asked about the salary and Tony told me it was £1million a year, net.”
He continued, detailing the moment of surprise: “On the Tuesday morning, we were having lunch at the training ground and it came up on the yellow strap on Sky Sports, ‘Manchester United have signed Cristiano Ronaldo for £12.2million’. Gerard and myself almost choked on our food. I can remember Gerard jumping up and saying, ‘What the hell has gone on there?'”
Liverpool were unaware that Sir Alex Ferguson had been orchestrating a deal with the young Portuguese star after his impressive performance in a pre-season friendly against United. Liverpool’s loss would become one of United’s greatest gains as Ronaldo would emerge as one of the club’s most influential players of the new generation.
Sir Alex Ferguson stole Ronaldo from under Liverpool’s noses (Image: Dan Mullan/Getty Images)
During his initial stint with United, Ronaldo netted 118 goals, clinching three Premier League titles, two League Cups, an FA Cup, the Champions League and the Club World Cup.
In 2009, Portugal’s icon bid farewell to Old Trafford and set off for Spain to join the esteemed Real Madrid, where he secured an impressive four Champions League titles along with two League titles, the Copa del Rey and Supercopa, two UEFA Super Cups and three FIFA Club World Cups.
Ronaldo then turned his attention to Italy and inked a €100million contract with Juventus the highest ever for any Italian club at the time. He bagged the league title twice with Juventus and also claimed two Supercoppas and the Coppa Italia once.
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Then, in 2021, he embarked on the journey from Turin back to Manchester and once again graced the Old Trafford pitch where he achieved 800 career goals and scored 24 in total in a season that was largely disappointing for the club.
Following a deadlock with the club and United boss Erik ten Hag, Ronaldo made his way to Saudi Arabia to join Al Nassr, where he currently plays. He has netted a total of 913 goals so far and is looking to add to his Euro 2016 triumph by securing the trophy at Euro 2024 in Germany – which could be his last international tournament for Portugal.
However, had he signed with Liverpool over two decades ago, his career trajectory could have been significantly different.
