It was the return of the prodigal son. After 12 years at Real Madrid and Juventus, Cristiano Ronaldo made his comeback at Manchester United last summer, but things could have turned out differently.
Not only were the Red Devils interested in signing the Portuguese, city rivals Manchester City also had serious intentions of luring Ronaldo back into the Premier League. Ultimately, a phone call with no less than Sir Alex Ferguson was probably the deciding factor.
“Don’t go to Manchester City,” were according to a report by the DailyStar the only words it took to persuade Ronaldo into talks with United. The situation is reminiscent of an anecdote 13 years earlier, but back then it was CR7 picking up the phone on behalf of Ferguson.
In 2008, United were targeting two players: Brazilian twins Rafael and Fabio da Silva. Premier League rivals Arsenal had also spotted the two Fluminense talents, but Ferguson had an ace up his sleeve.
The coaching legend hires Ronaldo as his “agent”. It was his job to call the brothers and in this way convince them to change. So Ronaldo got to work – with success.
Rafael on Ronaldo call: ‘I will never forget’
“He called me and I’ll never forget it,” Rafael recalled UTD Podcast: “I saw all the zeros on my phone [um einen internationalen Anruf anzuzeigen, Anm. d. Red.] and I thought: who is that? I’ve never received a call like this before.”
Rafael had just returned from his trial in Manchester, where he had previously shared the pitch with Ronaldo. When he picked up the phone, he quickly knew what was going on. “He just greeted me in Portuguese and I recognized him. I ran to my brother and said: ‘It’s Ronaldo, it’s Ronaldo! He’s calling to talk to us!'” says the Brazilian.
“He said, ‘I’m calling to tell you: Sign for Manchester United. I know you’ll love it,’ Rafael said. “I couldn’t believe it. It was incredible.”
Manchester United: Ronaldo helped Fabio and Rafael
Only a short time later, Fabio and Rafael moved to Manchester, where Ronaldo became an important contact. So revealed Fabio ESPNthat the five-time Ballon d’Or winner helped the twins cope with the language barrier, among other things.
Rafael quickly established himself as Gary Neville’s successor at right-back. The 31-year-old collected a total of three championships and one Club World Cup before leaving Manchester in 2015 after 170 appearances for Olympique Lyon. Today he defends in his native Brazil for Botafogo.
Fabio’s time in England, on the other hand, was less characterized by success. So he usually had to queue up on the defensive flanks. After 56 competitive games for United and a loan to Queen’s Park Rangers, the full-back made the move to Cardiff in 2014. He has been under contract with the French first division club FC Nantes since 2018.
Ronaldo, meanwhile, is tied to United until the summer of 2023. And who knows? Maybe he’ll stop at the age of 38 and slip into the role of agent permanently.
