Cristiano Ronaldo fell in love with Arsenal before joining Man Utd

Balague claims Arsenal turned Ronaldo's head, while agent Jorge Mendes also held talks with Liverpool,
Juventus and Barcelona. 

"The club making the greatest headway in that 2003 was Arsenal," Balague wrote in the book, serialised by The Telegraph.

"Chief scout Steve Rowley met Mendes and Ronaldo in Lisbon early in the year to plant the seed. 'There was a time when I really thought he was going to Arsenal,' admitted Mendes.

"Cristiano travelled to London with his mother in January to see the club's training ground and meet Arsene Wenger and one of his idols, Thierry Henry.

"'We were in a car and Jorge kept calling me to reiterate I had to make sure nobody saw me,' recalled Ronaldo. 'We stopped at a service station and I had to have my face covered. Jorge was calling me every five minutes: 'Be careful, be careful around people!'"

"Cristiano fell in love with the club, what it offered, the philosophy and the care with which young players are treated.

Ronaldo became the most expensive player in history when he moved to Real Madrid for £80m in 2009

"Arsenal, who wanted to confirm that he had the personality required to change his own lifestyle, country, language, had no doubts after his visit: he was ready. The player wanted to sign for the club. Mendes, too. As did Wenger, who kept the number nine shirt for him.

"The club's vice-chairman, David Dein, travelled to the Portuguese capital to seal the deal, but the initial offer was too low for Sporting. 'Arsenal, with the construction of the new stadium, were short on funds and it wasn't possible to make the move happen,' stated Mendes.

"The mistake by Arsenal was that, despite the very advanced negotiations, nothing was signed. Meanwhile, Manchester United agreed to play Sporting Lisbon in a friendly that very summer."