Manchester City rarely delve into the free agent market.
Ever since Sheikh Mansour took over the Citizens in September 2008, Manchester City have not needed to rely on such a market, instead splashing fees as large as £100m and £77.6m to sign the likes of Jack Grealish and Josko Gvardiol respectively.
However – just before Mansour took over – Manchester City were attempting to wrap up a free transfer under the ownership of Thaksin Shinawatra which would have been a quite remarkable move.
When Manchester City tried to sign Ronaldo for free
As you may know, Manchester City wanted to sign Cristiano Ronaldo in August 2021 – but over a decade before that saga, the Citizens tried to land the Brazilian Ronaldo on a free transfer.
#OTD in 1996, R⚽nald⚽ made his official debut for Barça pic.twitter.com/fgKLrEgyYP
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) August 25, 2021
As documented by the Daily Mail back in August 2008, the Citizens were interested in taking the man globally known as R9 on a free transfer, after his contract with AC Milan expired.
Ronaldo was recovering from a serious knee injury, but despite an enticing project awaiting him in Manchester, the deal never materialised, and the South American moved back home to sign for Corinthians.
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What Pep Guardiola said about Ronaldo
Pep Guardiola and Ronaldo were actually teammates at Barcelona during the 1996/97 campaign – in which the striker scored 47 goals in 49 games – but left the Spaniard devastated after departing to join Inter Milan in the summer of 1997.
Photo by Christian Liewig/TempSport/Corbis via Getty Images
Photo by Christian Liewig/TempSport/Corbis via Getty Images
The man from Santpedor said: “Ronaldo Nazario. Phew… How sad I was when he left for Inter, how sad… What a player and what a guy.”
Guardiola – who could break a promise to Manchester City fans – and Ronaldo made 46 appearances together for Barcelona, with the Manchester City boss setting up two goals for the legendary striker.
What a story it would have been for the two-time Ballon d’Or winner to join Manchester City on a free transfer, to say the very least.