Cristiano Ronaldo moved to Madrid in the summer
Former Real Madrid president Ramon Calderon has claimed that Sir Alex Ferguson tried to sell Cristiano Ronaldo to Barcelona and the Scottish boss "is no friend of Real Madrid ."
The Manchester United manager famously said he would not sell Real Madrid "a virus" but Cristiano Ronaldo moved to the Bernabeu last summer for a world record transfer fee.
Calderon said: "Cristiano reached an agreement on December 8 2008 with Manchester United to come to Real Madrid . There was no negotiation about this, the signing was already done. I did my bit. 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."
The ex-president added: "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."
Calderon continued: "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 . He rejected them and that is certain.''
Since leaving Manchester United , Cristiano Ronaldo has been a major success in Spain despite picking up two red cards in the Primera Division. The Portuguese forward has scored 15 goals in 16 matches in La Liga and the Champions League.
