Luciano Moggi: 'Cristiano Ronaldo was close to Juventus switch'

Former director of Juventus, Luciano Moggi, has claimed that the Italian club were close to signing Cristiano Ronaldo back in 2003.

The Portuguese playmaker eventually left his boyhood club Sporting Lisbon for Manchester United that summer in a deal worth a reported £12m.

However, Moggi has insisted that Juve initially had a deal in place which would have involved Chilean striker Marcelo Salas moving in the opposite direction.

"We had everything signed with Sporting Lisbon," he told Sphera Sports.

"We had agreed a swap deal with Cristiano in exchange for Marcelo Salas, who accepted the move, then went to Portugal for talks, but eventually backed out of the deal and chose to go to Argentina with River Plate instead.

"That's when Manchester United intervened. They were offering millions and we had no money to compete, so I had to cancel the contract. Cristiano Ronaldo could have joined Juventus when he was 18."

Ronaldo will come up against the Old Lady with his current club Real Madrid this evening in a Champions League fixture.