Italian football figure Gianni Di Marzio has revealed that Juventus could have been reaping the fruits of investing in Cristiano Ronaldo had a swap for the Portuguese gone through.
Di Marzio was in charge of the club’s transfers from 2001 to 2006. He said he could sealed the deal had Marcelo Salas agreed to the deal.
“He [Ronaldo] was eighteen when I worked at Juventus. I called my club and told them I’d seen someone who would be the best player in the world, obviously after Maradona. I negotiated and brought Cristiano over to Turin in 2002 to sign for Juve, but Salas didn’t accept the terms of the swap.
“For just a few million Euros, Salas didn’t want to leave and so Juventus lost out on Cristiano Ronaldo. His agent knows this story very well,” Di Marzio said in an explosive interview.
While no one knows how Ronaldo’s story would have been had he moved to the Serie A instead of Manchester United, he would have been a great addition to the Serie A giants. Ronaldo eventually moved to Old Trafford for £12.25 million from his boyhood club Sporting Lisbon in the summer of 2003.
The Portuguese star eventually spent six years in England, winning three Premier League titles, an UEFA Champions League, one FA Cup and two League Cups after retired manager Sir Alex Ferguson convinced him to join the club.
Ronaldo is one of the best players that the sport has ever seen. He carried his great form to Real Madrid from United. So far, he has lifted two Champions League titles, two Copa del Rey trophies and one La Liga title. He has been awarded the Ballon d’Or four times as well. What a miss for Juventus!
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