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Madrid would have paid £150m for Ronaldo - Ferguson

ESPN staff
March 3, 2014
Sir Alex Ferguson believes Fiorentino Perez would have paid £150 million for Cristiano Ronaldo © Getty Images
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Sir Alex Ferguson has revealed he told Manchester United to put a £150 million price tag on Cristiano Ronaldo's head in 2009 - and believes Real Madrid would have paid it.

Ronaldo became the most expensive player in football history when he joined Madrid for £80m but Ferguson believes United could have brought in almost twice as much money.

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Ferguson is convinced Real president Florentino Perez would have paid such a staggering sum to take the winger to the Bernabeu and remains disappointed that former United chief executive David Gill ignored his advice.

"I told David Gill to ask for £150 million. Perez would have paid," Ferguson told 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 £150 million'. He said: 'Don't be silly. They'll never pay £150 million'.

Ronaldo, who joined United from Sporting Lisbon in 2003, had scored 91 goals in his final three seasons at Old Trafford when Real came calling. He has gone on to score 238 goals in just 233 games for Real and was named the world's best footballer in 2012 by FIFA.

Real have gone on to break the world transfer record again by spending £85m on Gareth Bale last summer.

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