Bayern Munich CEO Oliver Kahn has admitted that the club did discuss the possibility of a transfer move for Manchester United forward Cristiano Ronaldo before deciding against the deal.
Kahn says he expects Bayern’s rivals Borussia Dortmund will also have looked at Ronaldo, but that his club quickly wrote off the idea of the signing.
Ronaldo’s future has been the subject of much speculation for a while now, with the Portugal international missing the majority of Man Utd’s pre-season as it looked like he was angling for a move away from Old Trafford.
Still, the 37-year-old ended up staying with the Red Devils, and it seems that, with Bayern at least, they simply weren’t convinced about signing him at this stage in his career.
Discussing the Ronaldo deal with Sport Bild, as quoted by AS, Kahn said: “We talked briefly about Cristiano at Bayern and probably also at Dortmund.
“We also see the big picture in the Bundesliga and an important factor in drawing attention to the league is of course superstars like him.
“He is one of the greatest of the last decade, but we quickly wrote him off.”
A few years ago it’s hard to imagine that Bayern would have said no to Ronaldo, but it does seem that, as he nears his 38th birthday, he just doesn’t quite have the appeal that he used to.
Erik ten Hag hasn’t used Ronaldo much this season, and it’s not yet clear what lies in store for him at the highest level of European football.