A missed transfer signing for Sir Alex Ferguson has boldly claimed that he was better than Manchester United legend Cristiano Ronaldo in “terms of pure football.”
Cristiano Ronaldo first arrived at Old Trafford in 2003 under Sir Alex Ferguson and made a sensational impact during his prolific first spell at Manchester United.
The 38-year-old Portuguese forward lifted three Premier League titles, a Champions League, an FA Cup and two League Cups under former United manager Ferguson.
Ronaldo also captured the first of his five Ballon d’Or awards at Old Trafford, with the United legend catapulting himself to the top of world football at the time.
Ferguson has widely hailed Ronaldo’s legendary career and his response was telling when he was asked about the Al Nassr star’s potential after he first signed him.
The 82-year-old Scotsman also claimed that the five-time Ballon d’Or winner was only one of four world-class players he managed in his illustrious career.
Rio Ferdinand has since revealed that United managed to land ex-teammate Ronaldo after Ferguson was “devastated” over not signing one legendary former player.
Ferguson’s missed signing makes Ronaldo claim
Despite his incredible career at Old Trafford, Sir Alex Ferguson failed in his efforts to sign some incredibly talented players for Manchester United.
The legendary former United boss has spoken about his regret in not landing one iconic ex-footballer, as well as naming players he wished he could have managed.
Eden Hazard was among the players that Ferguson didn’t bring to Old Trafford, despite the United legend’s best efforts to snap him up.
The ex-Chelsea star, who retired from football in 2023, has claimed that Barcelona legend Lionel Messi is the best player of all time ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo.
Hazard also suggested that while Ronaldo was a “bigger player” than him, he didn’t consider the former United star to be better than him in “terms of pure football.”
Speaking to French newspaper L’Equipe, he said: “Individually, Messi is perhaps the only one.
“I loved watching the [former] Barcelona player, less so at the end, but he’s the greatest in history. It’s impossible to take the ball away from him.
“Cristiano is a bigger player than me but, in terms of pure football, I honestly don’t think so.
“Neymar, maybe. After that, he’s no better than me, but at Real, you’ve got the best, also in terms of their careers: [Karim] Benzema, [Luka] Modric, they were the best, [Toni] Kroos, Kev’ [De Bruyne], they all exude football.”
Ferguson’s claim on Hazard
Hazard caught the eye of Ferguson during his spell at French side Lille and United were heavily linked with him alongside the likes of Manchester City and Chelsea.
However, the 33-year-old Real Madrid flop left Lille in 2012 and completed a sensational transfer to Chelsea for a reported fee of £32m.
Hazard enjoyed a prolific spell at Stamford Bridge before he left the Blues and went on to sign for La Liga side Madrid in a blockbuster transfer in 2019.
Following the former Belgium winger’s move to Chelsea, Ferguson ended up signing Shinji Kagawa from Borussia Dortmund and hit out at the price tag for Hazard.
“There is a borderline in terms of what you would think is a good signing for United,” he said at the time of Kagawa’s unveiling.
“I see some values on players, like Hazard for instance. To me, it was a lot of money. He’s a good player, but £34million?”
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