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Barcelona president breaks silence on Cristiano Ronaldo snub

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2 years ago

July 30, 2022

Barcelona president breaks silence on Cristiano Ronaldo snub

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Earlier this month, rumours had circulated the media that Manchester United superstar Cristiano Ronaldo, was offered to Catalan giants FC Barcelona this summer.

It’s no secret that Ronaldo desires an exit from Manchester United, after a disappointing return saw the Red devils finish in sixth place, while also missing out on Champions League football in a serious hammer blow to the team.

Barcelona president Joan Laporta, also refused to deny claims that Barcelona were offered the chance to sign the wantaway star by his agent Jorge Mendes.

Ronaldo’s intentions are purely understood to be a strong desire to compete in the Champions League next season, after United missed out at the end of the last campaign.

Barca are able to offer Ronaldo that opportunity following their second-place finish in La Liga last season.

However, a move to Barcelona would have been awkward anyway being that Ronaldo already played for the Catalan’s eternal rivals Real Madrid with whom he spent 9 years, sealing his ‘legendary’ status as one of the greatest goalscorers in football history.

Laporta clarifies Ronaldo links to Barcelona

Speaking in a recent interview, Barca president refused to deny rumours of a potential move for the five-time Ballon d’Or winner.

“Well, this type of story is all within the process of the summer window. There always appears a lot of news. But in the end the truth is we wanted Lewandowski,” he told CBS Sports.

“We have a very good relationship with Jorge Mendes. I have known him for a long time. He is one of the best player agents.

‘He knows how to do his job and I respect him. In this case, we decided to go for Lewandowski and knew he was crucial to our success.’

“So we went to Bayern instead. This is the reality. ‘

‘The other [Ronaldo] topic is just part of the ‘little history’ of football. It’s a very nice story, but you will always hear lots of contradictory news about it.” he added.

Laporta refuses to rule out a potential move for Ronaldo in the future

When asked to confirm if he ever considered making a move for Ronaldo, Laporta held firm against making any statement.

“We got Lewandowski. He was our main target and I prefer not to comment further.” Laporta said.

However, Barcelona rather had other ideas in mind, bringing in yet another prolific striker Robert Lewandowski and winger Raphinha from Leeds to boost their attack.

Those deals already cast doubts over a possible move for Ronaldo, who remains at the Red Devils despite his demands to be allowed to leave the club.