It can’t come as much of a surprise that Arsene Wenger, a man who despatches hordes of scouts to scour the continent for tall, fast, technically immaculate players – once ran the rule over a certain young Portuguese whipper-snapper named Christiano Ronaldo.
Arsenal boss Wenger told the BBC’s Jonathan Legard:
“He was here much earlier – he could tell you that if he wants.
“Manchester United had a partnership with Sporting Lisbon when United assistant coach Carlos Queiroz moved and that made it very difficult.”
So it looks like Ronaldo could have been playing in the red and white garb of United’s biggest Premier League rivals had it not been for a Sporting Lisbon-Manchester United ‘connection’! And po-faced Wenger ended his interview with the remark:
“I don’t want to create any story that isn’t needed,”
Too late matey, you just did!