Former Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has revealed that he told the club to demand a record breaking £150million from Real Madrid when they moved to sign star winger Cristiano Ronaldo in 2009.
The Spanish club bought Ronaldo for what was then a world record transfer fee of £80million, although that figure has now been surpassed by their purchase of Gareth Bale from Tottenham last summer.
Ferguson has come out and said that he was disappointed to receive such a fee, insisting Real would have coughed up nearly double what they managed to pay for him, the Express reports.
"I told David Gill to ask for £150m. Perez would have paid,” Ferguson is quoted as saying in Spanish newspaper AS.
"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'.
"He said, 'Don't be silly. They'll never pay £150m'. I said, 'Ask for it because he's worth it'.
"We signed the deal . I think it cost £80m or so but I'll always wonder what Mr Perez would have said if we'd asked for £150m."
"Considering the fact that they signed Gareth Bale for £85m, I think he would have agreed to pay between £80m and £150m.
"I'm sure he would have because Perez knew perfectly the quality of player he was receiving, as shown by his time at United.
"Furthermore he was only 23. That is the only disappointing aspect."
Ronaldo won the Ballon d’Or at the start of 2014 having become one of football’s greatest ever players during his five years in Spain.
The Portuguese superstar secured a vital point for Real against rivals Atletico Madrid on Sunday in a bad tempered 2-2 draw.
