Patrice Evra has revealed Sir Alex Ferguson was “99%” certain of bringing Cristiano Ronaldo back to Manchester United and planned to manage for another five years before announcing his retirement.
Ferguson revealed he would be standing down as United boss on May 8, 2013, and Evra, now at Juventus, has described how the Scot was still making ambitious long-term plans just weeks before the shock news.
They included bringing Ronaldo back to the club from Real Madrid, whom he joined for a then world record £80m in 2009.
“I remember we talked maybe two weeks before [his retirement was
announced] and he said, ‘Patrice, I will be here another five years’,” Evra told the Sunday Times.
“I said. ‘Yes, boss. Let’s do it.’ I was so convinced. He was
looking younger and younger, amazing. He even told me ‘99%, Cristiano
Ronaldo will come’. I was like, ‘Wow, we are ready to bounce back and to
even win the Champions League again’.
“After that everyone knows what happened. You know when you are
lost and you feel like the world is crumbling? It was a big trauma. I
felt lost.”
Sunday Times reporter Duncan Castles gives further details on
the Ronaldo pursuit, with the player apparently keen to return to Old
Trafford.
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