Cristiano Ronaldo Manchester United Transfer: Louis Van Gaal ‘Rejected’ Chance To Sign Forward In Summer

Manchester United allegedly had the opportunity to purchase Cristiano Ronaldo from Real Madrid in the summer, but Louis Van Gaal turned down the chance to buy him.

According to the Mirror, Spanish journalist Alfredo Duro made the claim while on El Chringuito, a television show.

Duro explained that Jorge Mendes, who is Ronaldo’s agent, actually met with United’s chief scout Martin Ferguson earlier this year to discuss the potential move.

At this meeting, Duro believes that Ferguson, who is also the brother of former Manchester United manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, was told that Ronaldo would be interested in moving back to United, while he was also confident that a deal could be orchestrated with Real Madrid, too. Ferguson then relayed this information to Van Gaal, however the Dutch manager rejected the chance to purchase Ronaldo.

Instead Van Gaal spent around $250 million on the likes of Luke Shaw, Ander Herrera, Angel Di Maria, Marcos Rojo, Daley Blind, and Radamel Falcao.

Manchester United’s faithful supporters pine for Ronaldo to return to Old Trafford. They sing his name on a weekly basis, and supporters’ group, United Reel, even organized a banner that read, “Come Home Ronaldo – UNITED REEL,” to fly over Villarreal’s E Madrigal stadium when Real Madrid and Ronaldo were playing there earlier this season.

Manchester United have constantly been linked with a move for Cristiano Ronaldo ever since he left the club.

Ronaldo previously played for Manchester United between 2003 and 2009. The Portuguese forward moved to Old Trafford from Sporting Lisbon for a fee of around $20 million.

While at Manchester United, Ronaldo developed into one of the finest players in world soccer. He went on to win the FA Cup in 2004, before he then won the Premier League in 2006-2007, 2007-2008 and 2008-2009.

Ronaldo also won the 2008 UEFA Champions League, a final that he scored in. Because of his terrific form in that season, Ronaldo was honored with the 2008 Ballon d’Or. He then completed a then world transfer record move to Real Madrid for $123 million in the summer of 2009.

At Real Madrid, Ronaldo has scored a sensational 205 goals in 185 games, while it is now widely acknowledged that, alongside Barcelona’s Lionel Messi, he is the best player in the world. Because of his imperious form, Ronaldo was awarded the 2013 and 2014 FIFA Ballon d’Or gongs too.

[Image via Caught Offside]