Former Manchester United coach Rene Meulensteen has recalled how the club failed to sign Ronaldinho, who he described as "like Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo rolled into one".
Ronaldinho is widely seen as one of the most skilful players of all time after blowing fans away with his incredible ability that emerged at PSG and United famously came close to snapping him up in 2003.
However, Ronaldinho ended up joining Barcelona and became a club legend there, scoring 94 times in 207 appearances and winning the Ballon d'Or in 2005. Meulensteen has now spoke of his regret United weren't able to sign him and believes he could have taken United to another level.
He told OLGB : "One of the biggest transfers in the Sir Alex Ferguson era that didn’t get over the line was Paul Gascoigne which was before my time, but I do remember that we held talks with Ronaldinho, who was absolutely on fire at the time.
"I think everybody would have loved to see him, but it didn't materialise for whatever reason but yeah, that was probably one player that Sir Alex would have liked to see come to United.
"Would he have fit in? Players adapt to their environments. I think Ronaldinho had his love and passion for football, but he obviously had other interests as well.
"I think that’s why his career wasn't as long-lived as Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, but that’s just my opinion. I think he would’ve been a good fit for us.
"If you go on YouTube and watch Ronaldinho highlights at his best at Barcelona, he was just unplayable. He was like a combination of Messi and Ronaldo rolled into one."
Luckily for United, they ended up signing Ronaldo the same year they missed out on Ronaldinho and the Portuguese forward ended up becoming of the club's greatest players and indeed one of the world's best talents.
Ronaldo eclipsed Ronaldinho on the world stage and ended up with five Ballon d'Or prizes to his one. After scoring 118 times and winning nine trophies with United, he later scored 450 goals for Real Madrid and won the Champions League four times.
The legendary forward is still playing today with Saudi Arabian side Al-Nassr while Ronaldinho retired from football in 2015.
Ronaldinho finished his career in his native Brazil with Flamengo, Atletico Mineiro and Fluminense, after a short spell at Mexican side Queretaro. He later got into trouble with the law and spent five months in a Paraguayan prison for entering the country with a false passport.
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