Cristiano Ronaldo was an Arsenal fan before joining Manchester United

A new book has revealed that Cristiano Ronaldo was in love with Arsenal and almost joined the club before making the move to English Premier League rivals, Manchester United.

In the new book titled Cristiano Ronaldo: The Biography, written by Spanish sports journalist Guillem Balague, it was revealed that the Real Madrid star travelled to London from Lisbon with his mother to visit Arsenal’s training ground and fell in love with the club afterwards.

“Cristiano fell in love with the club, what it offered, the philosophy and the care with which young players are treated,” ),”  Guillem wrote in the book serialised by The Telegraph.

The Portugese was then regarded as the brightest young talent in football and was in negotiations through his agent Jorge Mendes with the club.

“Jorge Mendes had meetings with all of Europe’s top clubs about Cristiano Ronaldo – then at Sporting Lisbon – in early 2003. Liverpool decided to offer €8million (£5.7m),”   Guillem wrote in the book serialised by The Telegraph.

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Arsenal was in the running to beat other club to the signing of Ronaldo failed to agree a deal with the Portuguese giants.

The North London club was handicapped by the building of the Emirate Stadium and Manchester United swiftly concluded a deal to buy the player after facing him in a pre-season friendly against Sporting Lisbon.

“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,” the book says.