{"id":17481,"date":"2026-05-05T21:42:22","date_gmt":"2026-05-05T21:42:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/17481\/"},"modified":"2026-05-05T21:42:22","modified_gmt":"2026-05-05T21:42:22","slug":"cristiano-ronaldo-nearly-joined-lionel-messi-at-barcelona-in-2009-as-ex-real-madrid-president-ramon-calderon-reveals-reason-why-it-failed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/17481\/","title":{"rendered":"Cristiano Ronaldo nearly joined Lionel Messi at Barcelona in 2009 as ex-Real Madrid president Ramon Calderon reveals reason why it failed"},"content":{"rendered":"

The careers of Cristiano Ronaldo<\/a> and Lionel Messi<\/a> have long been defined by rivalry, but a new revelation suggests their paths could have briefly converged. Long before their iconic battles between\u00a0Real Madrid\u00a0and\u00a0Barcelona, there was a moment when history could have taken a dramatically different turn. The possibility of both stars wearing the same shirt once came dangerously close to reality, only for one decisive factor to change everything.<\/p>\n

The summer of 2009 is remembered as a turning point, when Cristiano Ronaldo completed a blockbuster move to Real Madrid<\/a>, beginning a legendary chapter. However, fresh insight reveals that the deal was far from straightforward and nearly collapsed at a critical stage.<\/p>\n

According to former Los Blancos president Ramon Calderon, there was a genuine possibility that Ronaldo could have joined Barcelona<\/a> instead, creating a partnership with Messi that would have redefined the sport.<\/p>\n

Calderon<\/a> explained that the Blaugrana made a serious push to secure Ronaldo\u2019s signature during that period. \u201cBarcelona offered Cristiano Ronaldo a larger amount. There was a real possibility of him moving to Barcelona and joining Messi,\u201d he said on the YouTube podcast Ingenios, as reported by Spanish outlet Mundo Deportivo.<\/p>\n

\"ronaldo<\/p>\n

Lionel Messi of Argentina and FC Barcelona (L) and Cristiano Ronaldo of Portugal and Real Madrid (R)<\/p>\n

The financial aspect of the offer made the situation even more compelling. Barcelona was reportedly willing to outbid Real Madrid, presenting Ronaldo with a lucrative alternative that could have altered his career trajectory. At the same time, Alex Ferguson played a key role behind the scenes. As Manchester United\u2019s manager, he was reluctant to see Ronaldo move to Madrid due to tensions between the clubs.<\/p>\n

The decisive moment behind the collapse<\/p>\n

The crucial turning point came during discussions about Ronaldo\u2019s next step, when Ferguson attempted to redirect the transfer. \u201cSir Alex Ferguson\u2026 told him at the time: \u2018Okay, you will leave, but to Barcelona.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

It was at this moment that Ronaldo made his stance clear, effectively shaping soccer history. \u201cNo, I have reached an agreement with Real Madrid, with Ramon Calderon, and I will go to Real Madrid.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"ronaldo<\/p>\n

Sir Alex Ferguson the manager of Manchester United talks with Cristiano Ronaldo<\/p>\n

This response closed the door on a potential Barcelona move and ensured that Ronaldo\u2019s long-anticipated transfer to Real Madrid would go ahead, preserving the iconic rivalry between him and Messi rather than uniting them.<\/p>\n

Resistance inside Real Madrid and complicated relationship behind the success<\/p>\n

Interestingly, even after Ronaldo chose Madrid, the deal still faced internal resistance. Calderon revealed that Florentino Perez<\/a>, upon returning as president, was initially hesitant to finalize the agreement.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen Florentino arrived and saw the contract, he did not want to complete the deal. He did not even want to present it\u2026 Those around him convinced him that the matter was something crazy.\u201d This hesitation highlights how the transfer was not universally supported within the club at the time, despite its eventual success.<\/p>\n

\"ronaldo<\/p>\n

ristiano Ronaldo poses with the trophy as all-time top scorer of Real Madrid CF and president Florentino Perez<\/p>\n

Calderon also shed light on the relationship between Perez and Ronaldo, suggesting it was strained from the beginning. \u201cThe relationship between Perez and Ronaldo was not good at all from the beginning.\u201d<\/p>\n

He went further, recalling the circumstances of Ronaldo\u2019s departure in 2018. \u201cHe did not accept the exit either; Perez agreed on the condition that the player bring a cheque worth \u20ac100 million [$117m]\u2026 and when the player arrived with the cheque, there was no room to back out.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The careers of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi have long been defined by rivalry, but a new revelation…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":17482,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[5739,92,1870,1593,1693,4017,301,332,4206,9729,83,1888],"class_list":{"0":"post-17481","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-barcelona","8":"tag-al-nassr","9":"tag-barcelona","10":"tag-cristiano-ronaldo","11":"tag-el-clasico","12":"tag-florentino-perez","13":"tag-inter-miami","14":"tag-la-liga","15":"tag-lionel-messi","16":"tag-mls","17":"tag-ramon-calderon","18":"tag-real-madrid","19":"tag-saudi-pro-league"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17481","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17481"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17481\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17482"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17481"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17481"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17481"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}