Cristiano Ronaldo said he would ‘never’ join Man City: ‘It’s about passion’

Juventus striker Cristiano Ronaldo has reportedly agreed with Manchester City, but the former Manchester United man previously said he would ‘never’ join their bitter rivals and claimed football is ‘about passion’ and not money.

Old comments re-emerge in the English newspapers, as the former United star looks set for a return to Manchester.

But the reports in Italian and English media are talking about a shock move to the light blue side of the city and the Sun revealed he wants £510,000 a week at the Etihad Stadium.

The Portugal international has been asked many times over the years if City could be an option in the future. The report starts with Ronaldo’s statements in 2009, when he was asked if he would leave for City whilst at United.

“Never. City have a lot of good players and might be a problem for United, Arsenal and Chelsea,” Ronaldo then said. “But that doesn’t interest me. I’m only interested in playing for Real Madrid and teams like Barcelona and Valencia.”

Ronaldo then joined Real Madrid in July 2009, where he stayed for nine season before moving to Juventus in the summer of 2018. Manchester Evening News pull out his previous comments about joining Manchester City during his time with Los Blancos, when Ronaldo spoke ahead of a meeting with United in the Champions League.

“To play for City not United? I’m not going to do that,” he then said. “Why? Because my heart’s in Manchester United, that’s why.

“I can say it would be very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very difficult to play at Manchester City. Very difficult because of Manchester United.”

But Ronaldo eventually had to reiterate his stance about possibly joining Manchester City two years later, as the Citizens were growing more and more powerful.

“You think the money now is going to change the mind at 30 years old? I don’t think so. I think this is not going to be a problem. If you will speak about the money, then I will go to Qatar.

“I’d probably have more money there than at Manchester City. It’s not about the money, it’s about the passion.”