Evra reveals Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale almost agreed to join Man United in 2013

Manchester United's legendary manager Sir Alex Ferguson wanted to reunite with Cristiano Ronaldo at Old Trafford in 2013, just two weeks before announcing his retirement. This is according to Man United great Patrice Evra, who also claimed that Sir Alex Ferguson was keeping a close eye on Gareth Bale when the Welshman was at Tottenham Hotspur. Former Manchester United left-back Patrice Evra recalled the time Sir Alex Ferguson wanted to sign Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale before the duo eventually teamed up at Real Madrid. 

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Did Alex Ferguson want to bring back Cristiano Ronaldo at Old Trafford?

While speaking on the UTD Podcast, the 38-year-old Evra revealed that Sir Alex Ferguson planned to win the Champions League with Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale at Manchester United. The Scotsman already enjoyed 26 years of success with the Red Devils, winning 13 Premier League titles and two Champions Leagues. However, Evra admitted that a groundbreaking deal was on the cards in 2013 as Sir Alex Ferguson was '99 percent sure' of re-signing Cristiano Ronaldo and bringing Gareth Bale in from North London at the time. 

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Evra quoted Sir Alex Ferguson and explained that the Ferguson had planned for the arrival of the two superstar wingers at the Theatre of Dreams in a bid to win a third Champions League title. Although Sir Alex Ferguson fell short with his audacious attempt to sign Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale, the duo did eventually link up at the Santiago Bernabeu. However, Evra stated that he spoke with Cristiano Ronaldo and the Portuguese star had admitted that he was prepared to return to Manchester United to play under Sir Alex Ferguson. 

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Sir Alex Ferguson's premature retirement

Evra finally concluded by stating that Sir Alex Ferguson retired prematurely as he had planned on continuing his managerial stint for '10 more years' but had to call it quits, citing personal reasons. Evra said that Sir Alex Ferguson apologised to recent arrivals at the club including Robin van Persie and Shinji Kagawa as he would not be able to continue working with them. In the summer of 2013, Sir Alex Ferguson announced his retirement after winning a total of 38 trophies in 26 years. 

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