Former Barcelona club president Joan Laporta said before the upcoming "El Clasico" that in 2003, the Catalans could have bought Cristiano Ronaldo, who now plays for Real Madrid.
Laporta claims that Jorge Mendes himself suggested that they pay attention to C. Ronaldo. The Catalans had already agreed on a sum of 17 million euros, but were outbid by 2 million euros by Manchester United.
"After the new management arrived at the club, we invited Ronaldinho, Rafael Marquez, and Ricardo Quaresma. We had started negotiations for another player, suggested by Jorge Mendes," Laporta stated.
"Mendes told us that he had another great footballer named Cristiano Ronaldo. We knew about him and offered 17 million euros, which was not enough compared to the offer from Man Utd," added the former president of the Catalans.
C. Ronaldo, after his stint in Manchester, turned towards one of Barcelona's biggest rivals from Madrid - Real. In this club, the forward has already scored a total of 376 goals.
