Cristiano Ronaldo refused to be drawn on whether he could join Manchester City six years ago.
The Juventus star has been heavily linked with a shock move to the Premier League champions and reports in Portugal on Thursday claimed the five-time Ballon d'Or winner has agreed personal terms with City.
An interview from 2015 has emerged where Ronaldo dodged questions on whether he could play for Manchester United's rivals one day as that reality appears to edge closer.
The 36-year-old insisted playing football is not about the financial gain when asked if he could be persuaded to make the move to the Etihad.
'You think the money is going to change my mind now?' he told the BBC.
'I don't think so. I think it is not going to be the problem, because if you will speak about the money, I will go to Qatar.
'[They] maybe have more money than Manchester City, but it's not about the money. It's about the passion.'
Ronaldo scored 118 goals and supplied 69 assists in 292 appearances across a trophy-laden six-year spell at United between 2003 and 2009.
Reports in Italy earlier this week reported that City had offered the former Manchester United star a two-year deal worth £230,000 per week after missing out on Tottenham striker Harry Kane.
Sportsmail also understands the ex-Real Madrid forward was offered to Pep Guardiola's side in a £25million deal earlier this month.
Ronaldo signed for Juventus in a mega-money move from Real Madrid in 2018, but now has less than 12 months remaining on his deal at the Serie A giants.
Paris Saint-Germain were reportedly also sounded out as an option for Ronaldo, but with Lionel Messi already in their ranks, that switch has failed to gather serious momentum.
Ronaldo made it clear to Juventus of his desire to exit after asking to be benched for their clash with Udinese last weekend.