Cristiano Ronaldo reveals how close he came to joining Man City

It’s no secret CR7 was a transfer target for Manchester City in 2021, but how close was a deal to being done?

Cristiano Ronaldo has admitted he was ‘close’ to joining Manchester City in 2021 before returning to Manchester United.

After three years at Juventus, Ronaldo wanted to leave the Serie A club and got a surprising suitor in City. The Premier League champions were expected to do a deal before United swooped in to re-sign their former star forward in a deal worth €17 million.

“Honestly, it was close,” Ronaldo told Piers Morgan on TalkTV about City’s interest.

“They spoke a lot and [Pep] Guardiola said two weeks ago I guess that they tried hard to have me.

“But as you know, my history with Manchester United, your heart, your feeling, the history that you did before made the difference, and of course as well [a conversation] with Sir Alex Ferguson.

“I was surprised in some ways, but it was a conscious decision because the heart was speaking loud in that moment.”

When Morgan mentioned his replica shirts outsold those of Lionel Messi after the Argentine’s move to Paris Saint-Germain, Ronaldo smiled and replied: “Of course [I was happy about that]. As you know, I don’t follow the records, the records follow me.

“It was good, another one in my book… it was a good moment [to rejoin the club], nobody expected it, because things changed around in 72 hours. They spoke, not only Manchester City but other clubs too, about your name, changing Juventus for another club, but United wasn’t there [at the time].

“It surprised everybody, even me to be honest.”