Paul Scholes has praised Ronaldinho, expressing his regret that Manchester United could never sign him.
Ronaldinho came close to joining the Premier League giants in 2003, but the move collapsed and the Brazilian left Paris Saint-Germain to join Barcelona instead.
Former manager Sir Alex Ferguson blamed then-chief executive Peter Kenyon for the failure, stating that he “didn’t get the job done”.
Scholes, in an interview __with The Republik of Mancunia, says that players dealt __with the disappointment by trying to kick him during a pre-season game.
“I think Ronaldinho was very close at one time,” said the former midfielder. “I think if that’d have happened, I’d liked to have played with him. He was brilliant.
“I remember that year, we were on the preseason tour and it looked like he was going to sign for us and he ended up signing for Barcelona, and we were playing Barcelona on the preseason tour.
“Because he didn’t sign for us, everyone wanted to boot him and kick him, but you couldn’t get near him. Brilliant player, would loved to have seen him [at United] but, didn’t happen.”