Ronaldinho battles for possession with Nicky Butt in 2003

In 2003, Manchester United came dangerously close to completing a transfer for Ronaldinho. The silky Brazilian would have continued on to join Sir Alex Ferguson's side if it weren't for David Beckham's decision to leave Old Trafford for Real Madrid. Things could have turned out very differently, but to the Reds' credit, they made every effort to bring on board the attacker.

Even though Manchester United won the league title in 2002–2003, it was clear that Old Trafford was about to undergo significant transformation. After having a tremendously successful run in Manchester, albeit one that was not free from controversy, it became abundantly clear that David Beckham was going to part ways with the club. Despite his value both on and off the field, it started to look increasingly likely that the English golden boy would move to Spain. The rumors of disagreements between him and Sir Alex Ferguson intensified, and despite his value, both on and off the field, he was rumored to be having them.As is the case with the vast majority of high-profile stars, the allure of playing for Barcelona and Real Madrid was simply too great to pass up. In point of fact, those were the only two viable choices left for the United man to consider. The era of the infamous Galacticos had begun for Los Blancos, and the club had already signed players like Luis Figo, Zinedine Zidane, and Ronaldo. Although Madrid ended up being victorious in the competition for the captaincy of the England team, Barcelona was certainly a contender.

Elections for the position of president of the Catalan giants were held in the summer of 2003. Joan Laporta, who ended up winning the election despite being considered the underdog candidate, had previously stated that he intended to bring in either Beckham, Ronaldinho, or Thierry Henry as a new player for the club.

Many people didn't feel comfortable with the soon-to-be president's confidence, but he came awfully close to carrying out exactly what he had promised to do in his previous statements.

In an interview with MARCA in 2017, Laporta stated that he had reached an agreement in principle with United on the condition that he won the presidency, admitting that an agreement was in place over personal terms with Beckham's representatives. Laporta was speaking about the deal that he had struck with United.

Laporta said, "We met at Heathrow Airport and signed a document which said that they [United] would sell him to us if we struck an agreement with the agent." "We signed a document which said that they [United] would sell him to us if we struck an agreement with the agent." "Unfortunately, we were not successful in accomplishing that. We traveled to Nice and stayed with him there, and he stated that he would give it some thought.

David Beckham left United to join Real Madrid in 2003 

David Beckham left Manchester United in 2003 to sign with Real Madrid.

In spite of what appeared to be an agreement, Real Madrid was ultimately successful in their pursuit of Beckham's signature. In the summer of that year, they paid him £25 million to sign with them. United needed to strengthen their squad after the departure of one of the key men for the Reds, but finding someone of his caliber to take his place was not going to be an easy task.

Despite this, the Reds were successful in locating a primary objective. At the time, Ronaldinho was playing for Paris Saint-Germain, and he was the player who was selected to step into the captain's role for England at Old Trafford. After 77 games played for the French squad, during which he scored 25 goals and registered 17 assists, it was clear that he was an effective player. Simply put, his jaw-dropping skill and contagious smile were icing on the cake.

United were on the verge of finalizing a deal for the Brazilian winger, and Ferguson, who was writing his autobiography at the time, was positive that everything would go as planned.

"We had reached an agreement that would see him play at Old Trafford. Carlos Quieroz, who served as the assistant manager of United at the time, was present and can attest to the truth of that statement. The pursuit of Ronaldinho as a player reflected the fact that Manchester United have historically fielded teams with talismanic players, he wrote.

"I was constantly on the lookout for talent of that caliber. My line of thinking was, "We're getting £25 million for Beckham, and we're getting Ronaldinho for £19 million." Neither of those figures is unreasonable. For the love of God, get some sleep. It was a complete rip-off.

There were others who shared Ferguson's assumption that Ronaldinho would don a red shirt while playing for Manchester United at Old Trafford. Paul Scholes, a legendary midfielder for United, also anticipated that the Brazilian would sign with the club, and given that a squad number had already been reserved, it's hard to blame him.

On the podcast titled "Savage Social" produced by the BBC in the year 2020, Scholes recalled, "I remember two or three that were possibly coming." "I believe that Ronaldinho is the one that stands out the most. We were on the verge of announcing him and assigning him a number while he was away for preseason, but I believe that he made a last-second decision to sign with Barcelona instead of our team before he returned.

"It's really strange because we had a game against Barcelona while we were on that pre-season tour. Every single one of us was giddy — Ronaldinho, what a player! I believe that he was going to come from PSG at the time, and that all of us were going to get the opportunity to play with him. He was going to bring something very special with him.

Similar to the contributions that Eric Cantona made to the team. The next game we played was against him, and we were all trying to kick him because he hadn't signed for us. This happened three days later.

"It was disheartening, but I've had the good fortune to play with some great players, and he would have been just another unbelievable player if I'd had the opportunity to play with him, but it just didn't happen," she said.

In 2003, Paul Scholes stated that Ronaldinho was only a few days away from signing a contract with Manchester United.

After it became clear that they would not be able to sign Beckham, Barcelona quickly shifted their attention to attempting to acquire Ronaldinho on their own. Sandro Rosell supported Laporta's campaign to become president of the club and would take on the role of vice president in the event that they were successful.

The participation of Rosell proved to be essential, as the Spaniard reached out to Ronaldinho to inquire about the possibility of him joining the club in the event that Laporta was elected president. According to Ferguson, Ronaldinho agreed despite the fact that he had previously stated that he would play for United. This claim is supported by his Brazilian teammate Kleberson, who did end up joining the Red that summer after Ronaldinho assured him he would be joining him in England. Kleberson was a member of Ronaldinho's team in Brazil.

Kleberson told FourFourTwo that he was with the Brazilian national team competing in France for the FIFA Confederations Cup at the time United confirmed their interest in signing him.

"I distinctly recall being in the company of Ronaldinho and Assis, the latter of whom is also his agent. Ronaldinho revealed that the club is interested in signing both of them. I responded with, "All right, then, let's go!" I was overjoyed to learn that he would be accompanying me on this trip.

Rosell informed Ronaldinho that Laporta was going to win the presidential election at the Camp Nou, despite the fact that a transfer to United was extremely close to being finalized. However, despite the fact that a transfer to United was extremely close to being finalized. The Brazilian had previously committed to moving to Old Trafford, but after hearing this news, he had a change of heart and decided to sign with the Catalan club within a few days instead.

In 2014, Ronaldinho was quoted as saying to El Enganche, "Everything was beautiful and it happened fast." Sandro Rosell, a close friend of mine, was on the verge of being appointed to a position on the Barcelona board.

"Before the offers came, he had asked me if I would play in Barcelona when they won the election and became the presidents, and I had said 'Yes,' so I was surprised when the offers did come.

"I was almost on my way to Manchester United, and all that was left to do was put the finishing touches on that deal," he said. But at the very last second, Rosell gave me a call to let me know that they had secured victory in the election. Because of this, everything transpired very quickly.

"I had my sights set on playing in Barcelona. When I signed, I didn't feel pressure, I felt joy. I got the opportunity that every player dreams of having, which is to play for a legendary club like Barcelona.

"I was given the opportunity to walk in the footsteps of the people I looked up to. I was honored to play in the same stadium that former greats like Romario, Ronaldo, and Rivaldo had graced, and I relished the opportunity to serve as Barcelona's new 'R.'"

In 2005, Ronaldinho was named the winner of the Ballon d'Or.

2005 was the year that Ronaldinho took home the Ballon d'Or

Ronaldinho would go on to establish himself as the best player in the world while he was still playing for Barcelona. In 2005, he was awarded the Ballon d'Or, and the following year, he was instrumental in leading the Spanish club to victory in the Champions League.

In spite of the fact that United were unable to acquire a global superstar during that summer's transfer window, the club was able to sign a promising young player from Sporting. The youngster had impressed Ferguson during a preseason match between the two teams, and as a result, he was acquired by the club. Even though it has just come to a disappointing conclusion, his time spent playing at Old Trafford will go down as one of the highlights of his career.