I almost joined Gunners - Ronaldo

Cristiano Ronaldo admits he came "within a whisker" of signing for Arsenal before eventually joining their Barclays Premier League rivals Manchester United.

Gunners boss Arsene Wenger met the Portugal winger three times in a bid to bring the player to north London, but United gazumped the deal by entering negotiations and bidding three times what Arsenal offered for the recently-crowned 2008 Ballon d'Or winner.

"I came within a whisker of doing it," said Ronaldo who signed for United in August 2003 for just over £12million pounds in an interview he gave with France Football. "Wenger is someone I respect a lot. He is very intelligent."

Jorge Mendes, Ronaldo's agent, added: "That is what happened. Everyone wanted Cristiano; Real (Madrid), Juventus, Barcelona.

"But only Arsenal and Manchester United attempted to take him from there (Sporting Lisbon) that season. The others wanted to leave him at Sporting at least a year."

It is widely believed Ronaldo's sensational performance in Sporting's 3-1 win over United in a friendly on August 5, 2003 convinced the English club to sign him.

But Mendes revealed a deal had been agreed before that friendly, adding: "Everything was in place before, since an agreement had been reached the day before the match."

Ronaldo has gone on to become arguably the world's greatest player.