Former Barcelona president Joan Laporta has said he was offered Cristiano Ronaldo before the Real Madrid superstar joined Manchester United but turned down the opportunity to sign the Portugal icon for just £14 million in 2003.
Anthony Chapman of the Sun reported the ex-Blaugrana supremo admitted he was informed of Ronaldo's availability by his agent, who offered him the player at a price £2 million less than Sir Alex Ferguson paid for the attacking prodigy.
Laporta said:
When we arrived, we signed Ronaldinho, Rafael Marquez and Ricardo Quaresma.
We were in a process of reconstruction.