Pranav Nair
Paul Scholes reveals how close Ronaldinho came to joining Manchester United
According to the BBC, Manchester United legend Paul Scholes has revealed how close the club came to securing Brazilian World Cup winner Ronaldinho.
The Samba superstar is one of the finest players to grace the game and the thought of him donning the red jersey would have made a number of dreams come true.
It appeared to be the case as the then PSG star looked set to move to Old Trafford. The club has even set aside a shirt number for him before the dream transfer collapsed.
Having sold David Beckham, Ronaldinho was set to join the club as his replacement. With the likes of Ruud van Nistelrooy leading the ranks, the Brazilian could have considerably enhanced our attacking prowess.
Scholes revealed that he believed Sir Alex Ferguson had convinced the iconic playmaker to move to England, with United ready to announce his move from France.
“He was away on pre-season and we were as a close as announcing him and giving him a number ”
The player, however, ended up changing his mind at the last moment and moved to Barcelona. Ironically, Manchester United faced off against the Catalans in a pre-season friendly. A game we won 3-1.
Scholes admits that the squad were excited at the prospect of playing alongside Ronaldinho. He went to add that the signing threatened to have the same impact as that of Eric Cantona in the 90s.
Ronaldinho went on to enjoy great success at the Nou Camp. For United fans, it is a massive case of what may have been. Thankfully, we have not done too bad ourselves and went on to dominate English football for another decade.
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Having lost Beckham and missing out on Ronaldinho, the summer of 2003 threatened to be a bust for United. The club would go on to win the FA Cup while finishing 15 points behind Premier League champions Arsenal.
However, it was not all gloom, as a certain Cristiano Ronaldo did indeed make the switch to Old Trafford that very summer. The rest, as they say, is history.
