Jose Mourinho Claims Cristiano Ronaldo Transfer Was 'Never on the Table'
Jose Mourinho has denied reports that he rejected the opportunity to sign Cristiano Ronaldo over the summer, telling reporters that he never had the chance to say yes or no to signing the Portuguese superstar.
Former Manchester United star Ronaldo joined Juventus for €100m this summer from Real Madrid, where he played under Mourinho for three seasons between 2010 and 2013.
A report on Saturday claimed that Mourinho had passed up the chance to sign Ronaldo for €90m but Mourinho, speaking after United's 2-0 win at Burnley on Sunday, denied these rumors.
"Cristiano was never on my table to say yes or no to Cristiano to come to us. It was never on the table," Mourinho said, quoted by the Daily Mail.
Mourinho and United face a reunion with Ronaldo in this season's Champions League after the Red Devils and the Bianconeri were drawn into the same group on Thursday.
The United manager insisted that his team would give Juventus a run for their money.
"Juventus is one of the teams in Europe that invested to win the Champions League because they don't need to invest to win the Scudetto," Mourinho said. "They win the Scudetto for six or seven years.
"The objective is clearly to win the Champions League, which they were close twice when they reached the final, so they are a top team in Europe that made one of the biggest spending - I think after Liverpool it must be them.
"Fantastic players - Cristiano, [Emre] Can and [Leonardo] Bonucci. Absolutely top. But they are going to have two very difficult matches against us."
Juve have won their first three matches in Serie A, although Ronaldo is yet to get off the mark for his new team.
