Quite a stir had been created when Real Madrid decided to splash a whopping then-world record £80 million to secure the signature of Cristiano Ronaldo from Manchester United in 2009. Although, regarded as the one of the best footballers, many felt that at the time that Real had made a huge aberration in paying such an astronomical amount for a single player.
Five years on from the headline grabbing transfer though, Ronaldo seems to have more than justified his hefty price tag by scoring a quite remarkable 238 goals in 233 appearances for the Los Blancos.
However, despite receiving a record-breaking fee for Ronaldo, Sir Alex Ferguson still believes that Manchester United could have received almost double the amount for his prized asset and revealed that he initially wanted to set an asking price of around £150 million.
The legendary United boss said that he was disappointed to lose Ronaldo for ‘only’ £80 million and added he is convinced that Real Madrid President Florentino Perez would have agreed to pay more to land the services of Ronaldo, especially after seeing Madrid pay a whopping £85 million to sign Gareth Bale in the summer.
Speaking to Spanish publication AS, Ferguson said, “I told David Gill (former Man Utd Chief Executive) to ask for £150 million. Perez would have paid.
“The only thing that hurt me, and I said this repeatedly to David Gill, was that we didn’t demand enough. I told David, ‘Ask for £150m.’ ‘Don’t be silly,’ he said. ‘They’ll never pay that.’
‘What if?’ I still keep asking myself what Senor Perez would have said if we had asked for £150m. Considering they signed Gareth Bale for £85 million, I believe they would have agreed to pay between £80 and £150 million.
“That is the only disappointing aspect. If we had got £150 million, I would have kept talking about it for the rest of my life, because it would have been fabulous to receive that amount of money, not just from Real Madrid but from any football club. Nevertheless, Cristiano left with my blessing and we received a fair amount.”
What Do You Think? Did Manchester United receive the right amount for Cristiano Ronaldo OR Did Real Madrid land a bargain by signing the Portuguese superstar for £ 80million?
