Cristiano Ronaldo is reportedly looking for an escape route from struggling Manchester United and his agent, Jorge Mendes reportedly wanted FC Barcelona to sign him.
However, the current coach of the Spanish club, Xavi, is reportedly not interested in bringing the 37-year-old Portuguese football icon back to Spain.
Recall that Cristiano Ronaldo played for FC Barcelona’s major rivals, Real Madrid, between 2009 and 2018. During his time in Spain, Ronaldo scored a whopping 450 goals and provided 132 assists in 438 games in all competitions.
He helped Real Madrid to win two La Liga titles, two Copa del Rey, two Supercopa de España, five UEFA Champions League, two UEFA Super Cup, and three FIFA Club World Cup titles.
Afterward, he joined Juventus and spent three seasons at the Italian club before he returned to Manchester United in August 2021.
Since he returned to the Premier League, Cristiano Ronaldo has scored 18 goals and provided three assists in 33 games in all competitions.
Despite his effort, Manchester United has been knocked out of all European and domestic club competitions including the UEFA Champions League.
Things have gotten so bad for Manchester United that they are currently battling to qualify for next season’s UEFA Champions League. Unfortunately for them, they are currently sitting on the 6th spot on the league table with 50 points in 29 games, four points away from 4th placed Arsenal.
Cristiano Ronaldo is reportedly not happy with how things are going at the Premier League club. Hence, he is looking for a more ambitious club and FC Barcelona seems to be his desired destination.
But according to a report by a Spanish publication, El Nacional, Xavi said it would be “the biggest betrayal in history between Barcelona and Real” if Barca signs Ronaldo. This statement means that the Spanish coach is not interested in signing the five-time Ballon d’Or winner.
Ronaldo who reportedly earns £510,000 per week at Manchester United has until June 30, 2023, before his contract with United expires.
This is the second time FC Barcelona refused to sign Cristiano Ronaldo
In 2021, the current president of FC Barcelona, Joan Laporta told Spanish outlet Marca that FC Barcelona almost signed Cristiano Ronaldo during the 2003 summer transfer window.
Then, Ronaldo was at Sporting Lisbon and was also on the verge of joining Manchester United. Even though Ronaldo’s representatives wanted to sell the Portuguese star then to FC Barcelona for as cheap as €17 million, Barca refused to sign him.
Hence, Manchester United paid two million euros extra to bring Ronaldo to the Premier League for the first time in his football career.
FC Barcelona’s president said in 2021: “We were about to sign Ronaldinho and Rafa Marquez.
“Marquez’s people proposed Cristiano Ronaldo to us. He was at Sporting Lisbon at the time. One of his agents said that they had a player who they had sold to United for €19million [around £12m in 2003], but they’d sell him to us for €17m.
“But we had already invested in Ronaldinho at the time. Cristiano played more out wide than in the center. We thought we were covered, so we rejected him and I don’t regret it.”
In place of Ronaldo, the FC Barcelona football academy produced Lionel Messi who went on to become Ronaldo’s major career rival to date.
Note that Messi left Barca in August 2021 for Paris Saint Germain on a free transfer after Barca failed to renew his contract due to financial complications.
It might interest you to note that Cristiano Ronaldo is currently on international duty with Portugal national team. The country needs to beat North Macedonia later tonight, March 29, at 19:45 to qualify for the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
