When Real Madrid purchased the services of Cristiano Ronaldo from Manchester United in 2009, the transfer fee was eye-popping: $134 million.
What’s nuttier? Sir Alex Ferguson wanted to ask for more.
The former Red Devils boss knew he had a special situation, with a young superstar coveted by one of the richest clubs in the world. What did Ferguson think Real Madrid president Florentino Perez was willing to pay?
Try a quarter of a billion dollars. That’s what Ferguson told Spanish publication AS:“I told (former Manchester United CEO) David Gill to ask for £150 million. Perez would have paid.
“The only thing that hurt me, and I said this repeatedly to David Gill, was that we didn’t demand enough.
“I told David, ‘Ask for £150m.’ ‘Don’t be silly,’ he said. ‘They’ll never pay that.’”
We’ll never know if they would have paid such a lofty figure, but if Gareth Bale is worth $142 million, then how about C-Ron? Ferguson is positive it would’ve been more.
“That is the only disappointing aspect. If we had got £150 million, I would have kept talking about it for the rest of my life, because it would have been fabulous to receive that amount of money, not just from Real Madrid but from any football club.
“Nevertheless, Cristiano left with my blessing and we received a fair amount.”
Define fair, SAF.