Football

Patrice Evra Reveals Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale Both Agreed To Join Manchester United In 2013

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By
Cai Parry
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Cai Parry Sports Editor

Cai is a news and features writer that specialises in football, but has experience covering a variety of other sports, including darts, basketball, American football, MMA, boxing and more. He holds a degree in Football Journalism (BA Hons) from the University of Derby, and worked with Nottingham Forest FC and Burton Albion FC throughout his studies. Cai also has experience working in social media with the Football Association of Wales, where he worked on a freelance basis, and has also been an accredited writer in the JD Cymru Premier for both Y Clwb Pêl-Droed and welshfootie since the 2019/20 season.

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Published01 Oct 2024

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Patrice Evra Ronaldo Bale

Patrice Evra has revealed that both Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale agreed to join Manchester United in 2013, but that the club refused to pay the £200m that was required to sign the pair.

Former Real Madrid wingers Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale had both agreed to join Manchester United prior to Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement in 2013, however the club refused to pay £200m to sign them, claims Patrice Evra.

At the time, Ronaldo had spent four years in the Spanish capital, and Bale was off the back of an incredible season with Tottenham, in which he scored a total of 21 goals in 33 Premier League games and won both the PFA Player of the Year and the PFA Young Player of the Year.

There had been talks over the Welshman potentially making the move to Old Trafford, but a transfer never materialised, and he instead he joined Ronaldo at Real for a then-world record £85.1m fee.

As they say, the rest is history. Bale would go on to win a total of five UEFA Champions League titles post-2013, while Ronaldo added another four to the one he won with United, and the pair became part of a formidable attacking trio alongside Karim Benzema to win countless major honours.

Ronaldo also won another four Ballon d’Ors from 2013 onwards, taking his career total to five before he returned to Manchester United for a year under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in 2021.

Having failed to win a single Premier League title since 2012/13, had the board backed Sir Alex and signed the pair in 2013, one has to think that the club’s fortunes would’ve been completely different over the last 10 years, and Evra’s comments will undoubtedly leave Red Devils fans wondering ‘what if…?’

Patrice Evra On Ronaldo And Bale Agreeing To Join Manchester United

Speaking on former Chelsea midfielder John Obi Mikel’s ‘The Obi One Podcast’, Evra confirmed that both Ronaldo and Bale had agreed to join Manchester United in 2013, but that the club refused to pay £200m for the pair.

In response to the co-host saying that when Sir Alex left, it was a “day he’ll never forget”, Evra said: “One of the most saddest days, I didn’t cry, I was in shock.

“The reason why is, two weeks before he brought me to his office and said, ‘Patrice, look at those people, they think I’m going to retire, I’m going to be here another 10 years, but we need to win more Champions Leagues’. He said, ‘Patrice, Cristiano Ronaldo has agreed 99% to come back and Gareth Bale’.

“He needed £200 million, and the club refused to give him those £200 million, and now they’ve spent a billion or whatever.”

Obi Mikel responded, asking in which year Evra had this conversation with Sir Alex, to which he replied: “It was 2013, just before he retired. So that’s why, I remember when I got out of his office, I was like, ‘Cristiano is back, Gareth Bale, you know, we’re back in business!’, after winning the title and everything, imagine!

“So that’s what he [Sir Alex] said, he said, ‘I need to win more Champions Leagues’.”