Calderon - Ronaldo rejected Barca

Former United player had other options last summer

By Jamie Casey   Last updated: 9th February 2010   Subscribe to RSS Feed

Calderon - Ronaldo rejected Barca

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Former Real Madrid president Ramon Calderon claims Cristiano Ronaldo resisted interest from Barcelona to move to the Bernabeu.

The Portuguese forward finally completed his move from Manchester United to the Primera Liga giants last summer after flirting with the notion annually since arriving at Old Trafford in 2003.

United boss Sir Alex Ferguson was eventually powerless to let his prize asset go, despite previously voicing his disapproval of Madrid for their constant pursuit of his player.

Ronaldo, who signed in a world record £80million deal, made no secret of his desire to one day play for Madrid, and Calderon revealed the date a verbal agreement was made.

"Cristiano reached an agreement on December 8 2008 with Manchester United to come to Real Madrid," Calderon told Spanish Eurosport.

"There was no negotiation about this, the signing was already done. I did my bit."

Galactico

Calderon went on to step down as club president, prompting the return of Galactico-obsessed Florentino Perez, who took credit for the club's summer influx of star signings.

According to Calderon, Ronaldo had options to sign for other European giants, including bitter rivals Barcelona, even after their agreement was made, but he praised the player for sticking to his word.

"The player, in a gesture of good faith and clear desire to come to Madrid, agreed to a clause which could have inflicted a financial penalty of 30 million euros.

"But then Barcelona and Inter Milan tried to sign him too. It was a difficult situation because for United that would have solved the problem.

"It's very well known that Alex Ferguson is not a friend of Real Madrid, does not see Madrid in good light because they are sporting rivals, in trophies and European competition.

"If he had gone to Barcelona it would have been very good because it would have allowed them to resolve that problem and would have taken away a great player from Real Madrid.

"But you have to say that the player remained firm and decisive in not going to another club that wasn't Real Madrid.

Calderon reiterated: "He rejected them and that is certain."