Rio Ferdinand says Sir Alex Ferguson was devastated not to sign Brazilian legend

Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand has been reminiscing an instance when Sir Alex Ferguson came close to making a historic signing for the club.

Under Ferguson, Ferdinand enjoyed a distinguished career at Manchester United, where he won six Premier League titles and a Champions League medal.

The English defender played alongside some of the greats of the game like David Beckham, Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, Roy Keane, Peter Schmeichel and Cristiano Ronaldo.

However, Rio Ferdinand recently discussed a signing that Manchester United lost out on under Sir Alex Ferguson when appearing on “The Obi One podcast.”

Despite the following events leading to the signing of Cristiano Ronaldo, Ferdinand revealed that his boss was heartbroken to have lost out on a prior attempt to recruit Brazilian legend Ronaldinho.

Speaking on the podcast, Ferdinand said that before the Brazilian star Ronaldinho chose to transfer to Barcelona in 2003, his boss was very close to signing him.

Ferdinand said: “I remember when Cristiano Ronaldo signed we went on tour to Lisbon and he was actually lucky that we signed him.

“It was only on the disappointment of not signing Ronaldinho that summer.

“I remember we were going to sign Ronaldinho but he chose to leave PSG for Barcelona. The manager was absolutely devastated.

“Then on the tour he went to Sporting Lisbon to open the stadium, Cristiano Ronaldo plays and the rest is history.”

United ended up with a player that changed the modern day history of the club and won the Ballon d’Or while helping the team win three Premier League titles and one Champions League trophy.