Ronaldo had said ‘yes’ to Ferguson for a United return


Ronaldo had said ‘yes’ to Ferguson for a United return

Ferguson Ronaldo

On Tuesday, Former defender Patrice Evra has revealed that legendary former Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson had almost finalised the bold bid to bring Cristiano Ronaldo back to the club in 2013 and also had plans of roping in Gareth Bale. He revealed in UTD podcast episode which is now available on other podcast providers.

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When asked about his retirement in 2013, Evra was quoted as saying to Manchester United Official Website that “You know, you talk about the hardest moments (in my United career), I would say maybe this is the one”.

He remembers there was a lot of media saying that Ferguson will retire on next year and on that, “Ferguson said Patrice, I will never retire. I will be here for another 10 years.”

He further added, “My target is I’m 99 per cent sure we will have Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale. I just need these two players to win the Champions League again. Ninety-nine per cent. And to be fair, when I speak with Cristiano, I ask him and he said yes to the boss, and was coming to join United”.

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Ronaldo now plays for Italian giants Juventus while Welsh forward Bale plies his trade for Spanish heavyweights Real Madrid.

Evra said when they arrived at Carrington, he saw all those cameras and he was like “Wow, someone has done something wrong. Maybe a player is a story again! Someone has done something wrong, they are in trouble. But they arrived and people said Guys, you have to stay in the dressing room because the boss wants to have a chat. And when the boss came into the dressing room to talk to everyone, it’s never good news.”

“He came, and he said, ‘I’m really sorry. Some people have said that I’m going to retire even before I say it myself. That’s why you saw all those cameras. But I will retire because my wife needs me’. He apologised to (Robin) van Persie, he apologised to Shinji (Kagawa), because he just brought them. He apologised to them especially.” he added.

He couldn’t believe it. He thought it was like a prank again, “My wife said, ‘What’s happened?’ I said ‘Ferguson has retired.’ She said: ‘Oh, best news! Now I know next year we’re leaving!’ I said ‘I’m not playing for Ferguson. I’m playing for the club. I’m playing for the badge, for the fans, and playing for the boss and my teammates, so this won’t be the reason why I will leave Manchester United.’

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“But it was a tough day, because my philosophy with Ferguson… I’ve never been scared of Alex Ferguson, but I’ve always been scared to disappoint him. To play in a bad game and to let him down.” Evra added.