CORINTHIANS president Duilio Monteiro Alves has confirmed that the Brazilian club attempted to sign Cristiano Ronaldo before he made his record-breaking move to Al-Nassr.
Ronaldo, 37, became the highest-paid sportsperson of all time when he signed a lucrative £173million-a-year contract with Al-Nassr last week.
Upon his arrival in the Middle East, the former Manchester United star confirmed that he had rejected numerous offers from Europe, the USA, Portugal and Brazil in favour of playing in the Saudi Pro League.
And now it has emerged that one of the clubs he turned down was Corinthians.
In an interview with Bandeirantes’ Donos da Bola, Alves revealed that even though Corinthians agreed to match Ronaldo’s Man Utd wages, Al-Nassr offered “20 times” the amount.
He said: “We made an offer to Cristiano Ronaldo. A salary equal to what he earned at United, two-year deal with the help of sponsors.
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“I know he also had proposals from Europe. But the proposal from Saudi Arabia was 20 times higher.
“I spoke six, seven times with Jorge Mendes and, in the end, we sent a proposal through another person.”
Since missing out on signing Ronaldo, Corinthians have registered an interest in signing Philippe Coutinho from Aston Villa.
According to Spanish outlet Sport, the Brazilian side want to sign the former Barcelona star on loan, but it will be a “difficult deal”.
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Corinthians chief Alves said: “The contact exists and the desire is there, but it is a very difficult deal.
“We want the player on loan, but while the transfer window in Europe is open, everything is very difficult. It is still a very premature operation but we have to try.”
Coutinho joined Aston Villa in a £17million transfer from Barcelona last year.
He has made 16 appearances for the Lions so far this season, but he is yet to score or assist a goal.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
