Patrice Évra made a surprising revelation regarding Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale during an interview on John Obi Mikel’s podcast, The Obi One.
The former Manchester United left-back, who played under Sir Alex Ferguson from 2006 to 2014, revealed that the legendary Scottish manager planned a grand return of Cristiano Ronaldo and the signing of Gareth Bale shortly before his retirement. Évra remembers a striking conversation: “The coach’s retirement? It was one of the saddest days. I didn’t cry, I was in shock. The reason is that, two weeks before, he had called me into his office and said to me: ‘Patrice, look at these people, they think I’m going to retire… I’ll be here for another 10 years, but we We need to win more Champions Leagues. Patrice, Cristiano Ronaldo has 99% agreed to come back, just like Gareth Bale.’”
Ferguson had ambitions to significantly strengthen his team and was aiming for the return of Ronaldo and the arrival of Bale, but he needed 200 million pounds to make these transfers happen, or around 240 million euros today. Évra continues: “He needed 200 million pounds and the club refused to give him this 200 million, and now they have spent a billion… (…) When I left the office, I was happy! Cristiano (Ronaldo) is back, Gareth Bale… Manchester United are back, just after winning the Premier League title. » Eventually, Sir Alex Ferguson retired a few weeks later, and the two stars did team up, but at Real Madrid, not Manchester United.