Wenger: I wish I had signed Ronaldo for Arsenal
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Arsene Wenger: I wish I had signed Cristiano Ronaldo for Arsenal
Arsene Wenger has had few regrets during his time at Arsenal but he admitted that he wished he had been as persuasive to Cristiano Ronaldo as he had been to the Manchester United winger's mother.
Wenger: disappointed that he seduced only Ronaldo's mum and not the player.
Wenger also said that the Old Trafford club's most coveted asset owned an Arsenal shirt with his name across the back after he attempted to sign the recently-crowned European Footballer of the Year.
Ronaldo said he was "just an inch away from signing for Arsenal" five years ago and that his mother, Maria Dolores dos Santos Aveiro, has admitted having been hugely impressed by Wenger.
"I'm disappointed that I seduced only Ronaldo's mum," Wenger joked. "I had Ronaldo at the training ground, I showed him around and I gave him a shirt. It has got his name on the back.
"At the end of the day I wanted him to be here, but most important is he makes a career. He went to Man United and made a career, he would have done that here."
Wenger, who leads Arsenal against Wigan today, claimed that he had got his own back on Ferguson by signing a promising player from under his nose. Asked which player he was referring to, he refused to say, adding mischievously that he would reveal the player "maybe when he wins the Ballon d'Or".
Wenger was first notified about the talents of Ronaldo during the annual Under-20 tournament in Toulon, France. "I saw that he was an exceptional talent but we could not predict he would become the player that he is," Wenger added. "What we did not see in him at that time is his capability to score goals."
Wenger also insisted that the money aspect hindered his efforts to sign Ronaldo, adding: "It was a question of the amount of transfer fee between the two clubs."
“Also what killed us was the United players must have been dead coming out of the plane and Ronaldo was fresh, so he must have been even more dominant.
Ronaldo left Sporting Lisbon for £12.5million in the summer of 2003, but Wenger said: "The price we discussed was much lower. What killed the deal is that United played against Sporting Lisbon [in a friendly] and Ronaldo was man of the match.
"Carlos Queiroz knew him well and since then they have signed Anderson and Nani. It's like I can sign from France because I know them well."
Meanwhile, Wenger is adamant that Arsenal still have a chance of winning the title despite being eight points off the top.
Ronaldo's mum
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"I'm disappointed that I seduced only Ronaldo's mum," Wenger joked.
i wonder where's the arsenal shirt now. ha.
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Originally posted by omgukilledkenny:
"I'm disappointed that I seduced only Ronaldo's mum," Wenger joked.
i wonder where's the arsenal shirt now. ha.
ronaldo wear the shirt to man utd training
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ronaldo isnt that good at the start. It took him 3 seasons to adapt.
Those 3 seasons were also manutd's barren league season because c. ronaldo wasted too many chances.
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Yeah, when he first arrived as an 18 yrs old, he was like another young winger / midfielder, maybe just like Reyes or Nasri... But his development has gone off the roof after the first 3 years... I bet it wasn't just Wenger who didn't thought he couldn't score goals like that... Fergie probably didn't also...
Campare to Nasri today, Ronaldo in his first season only had 4 goals and his second only 5... While Nasri already have 5 when we have not even reach mid-season... So you can see the improvement he has made since his arrival to date...
So maybe if under Wenger or at Arsenal, he may not be what he is today. Or worse, Real Madrid would have taken him away from Arsenal long ago...
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it was kinda reported that his transfer fee if it went thru was only ard 7odd million pounds or thereabout but when ManU came into the pic the price was increased hence making this transfer a hoohaa during SAF's fight against ManU's ex major shareholder, hinting that it might have been some sort of kickback for this transfer.. but these things happened, even Gazza was overlooked during his teenager days...
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seduced the mom