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In 2003, Manchester United were just 48 hours away from signing Ronaldinho
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He'd agreed, PSG had accepted, even a squad number was already decided
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But then, after the done deal was supposed to be done, Barcelona came in with a phone call
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David Beckham had just left Manchester United and Ferkey was dying for some of that flair, creativity and pure footballing brilliance
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And Ronaldinho was that guy, United thought they had him in the bag. He was given the promise of being the poster boy of Camp Nou and being a significant part of the new era of Barcelona's rebuild
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Paul Scholes even said we were just days away from announcing him and Ronaldinho became that Barcelona icon
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From Champions Leagues to Ballon d'Ors, he was one of the most influential footballers of all time, undisputed
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As for Manchester United, well they signed a skinny kid from Portugal going by the name of Cristiano Ronaldo
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Just like that, two superstars and game changers for the international game were born and just from a transfer that got hijacked
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So the Premier League was this close to being able to see Ronaldinho, but instead they got to see Cristiano Ronaldo
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That has to be one of the craziest footballing stories of all time
