Things happen for a reason. And who better than Manchester United can relate to this truism. The club missed on signing Ronaldinho and ended up getting Cristiano Ronaldo. Years later, the former boss would blame a missing vibe for preferring the Portuguese over the Brazilian.

The comments about missing the former Barcelona forward would frustrate several Red Devils fans ideally. However, they will also feel lucky as the failed transfer brought in someone who became a cult of the club.

The legend of the failed transfer

In the summer of 2003, Manchester United brought in a young player Cristiano Ronaldo from Sporting C.P. The Red Devils signed him after the Portuguese star had impressed everyone in a friendly. However, the circumstances would have been different that summer. The Premier League giants signed him because they failed with the Ronaldinho transfer. Ex-CEO, David Gill, spoke about it in an interview.

He said, “To me, we were never that close. We went over to Paris when he was there, we met with his brother Roberto Assis, who was his agent. The deal was discussed between me and Peter. We met them at Manchester Airport, we went through and did all the numbers. We nearly got an agreement on the wages and agent fees. Peter went back to Old Trafford and I said I’d look after them. I just didn’t get a good vibe.”

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David Gill also revealed that the biggest reason for the deal not happening was Barcelona. He revealed that if the deal had to be done, Ronaldinho would have been a United player. However, he pointed out the first choice of the Brazilian was the Culers. The 66-year-old also pointed out that they were nowhere near signing the Brazilian forward as reported by the media at that time.

The situation would have been certainly different had Ronaldinho signed for Manchester United. However, as far as the Brazilian himself is concerned, he feels that the deal was close to the Premier League giants.

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In a different interview, the Brazilian revealed how he signed for the Culers. He said that the deal with the Red Devils was very close. However, one person changed the whole transfer saga. It was Rosell who was elected to the Barcelona board and convinced the club to quickly close the deal.

In the end, Sir Alex Ferguson was not at all happy with losing the race. United legend Rion Ferdinand pointed out that losing the Ronaldinho deal led to the club signing Cristiano Ronaldo as they had also lost David Beckham that summer.

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In the end, it is fair to say that both Barcelona and Manchester United signed the right players. But who had a bigger impact on their respective clubs – Cristiano Ronaldo or Ronaldinho? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.