It has been claimed an Italian club once turned down the opportunity to sign Cristiano Ronaldo, saying they wanted the 'real Ronaldo' instead.
The 38-year-old has gone on to become one of football's greats after a scoring a plethora of goals since joining Manchester United as a teenager.
Read: Al Nassr top scorer 'angry' since Ronaldo joined
However, everything could have been so different as many clubs had the chance to sign the Portuguese forward when he was younger.
Previously, it was claimed that legendary Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger and FC Barcelona both held talks with the forward ahead of his switch to Old Trafford from Sporting CP in 2003, but those transfers collapsed for various reasons.
The two clubs likely regret their failure to sign Ronaldo, although they could not have predicted just how impressively he would fulfil his potential.
Football agent Alessandro Moggi has now claimed that Italian club Lazio were also among the first teams who had the chance to sign the five-time Ballon d'Or winner from Sporting, but decided to reject the opportunity.
"Mendes was a good friend of [ex-Sporting director Gianmarco] Calleri, we proposed Cristiano to [then-Lazio president Sergio] Cragnotti, but he answered that he didn't want him, that he would have wanted the 'real' Ronaldo, so there wasn't even a negotiation," the intermediary said, per Goal.
The 38-year-old was widely linked with a number of clubs ahead of the latest January transfer window, with Lazio being one of them.
However, a move to Italy did not materialise, with it being likely that the player's wages may have been too costly for the Rome club.
Read: Man Utd 'decide' Ronaldo's replacement
With Ronaldo having secured his big move to Al Nassr since, he claimed soon after signing his record deal that he had many offers but chose to go to Saudi Arabia as he felt his time in Europe was over.
Lazio, meanwhile, never succeeded in their attempts to sign Brazil legend Ronaldo Nazario, who would go on to play for rivals Inter and AC Milan.
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