Cristiano Ronaldo didn't sign for Juventus because of Marcelo Salas

Posted Monday, February 13, 2017 by Marca.com

Gianni Di Marzio recently revealed that he was very close to signing Cristiano Ronaldo for Juventus in 2002, but missed the opportunity because of Marcelo Salas.

The former sporting director confessed that Salas rejected the swap deal with the current FIFA Ballon d'Or winner.

"He was eighteen when I worked at Juventus," Di Marzio said.

The 77-year-old was in Lisbon to follow Ricaardo Quaresma, he didn't play in the game for Sporting against Belenenses.

Instead, Di Marzio got to appreciate the skills of a young Ronaldo, playing just his third game with the club.

"I called my club and told them I'd seen someone who would be the best player in the world, obviously after Maradona," he continued.

"I negotiated and brought Cristiano over to Turin in 2002 to sign for Juve, but Salas didn't accept the terms of the swap.

"For just a few million euros, Salas didn't want to leave and so Juventus lost out on Cristiano Ronaldo.

"His agent [Jorge Mendes] knows this story very well."

Fifteen years later, one of the teams that Di Marzio coached, Napoli, will face Ronaldo and Real Madrid on Wednesday at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu.

"Napoli have to play football and the result will depend on the gaps Madrid leave," he added.

"They are fast and with only two passes they can reach the goal."

Di Marzio has a very close relationship with Diego Maradona and confessed that his presence at the Bernabeu will give Napoli a lot of confidence.

"Maradona transmits energy to the team, even from the stands. He is an important figure for all the footballers who play for Napoli," he said.

"He was able to gather 80.000 people at the Stadio San Paolo without playing a game - that was just for the simple act of signing for the club and touching the ball a couple of times out on the pitch.

"He is the god of football, with respect to Messi and everyone else."