Cristiano Ronaldo almost played for PSV—this is what absolute world star said about PSV

Former PSV defender Stan Valckx also worked as a scout for PSV after his active football career. As a scout, Valckx saw in the summer of 2001 during a youth tournament with national teams, for the first time, Cristiano Ronaldo in action, who at that time was still an unknown footballer.

In conversation with ELF Voetbal, the born Limburger looks back on seeing Ronaldo in action. ''I booked a hotel for four days so I could attend a big international youth tournament (Tournoi de Montaigu, ed.). At those tournaments, there were always talents around who were interesting for us. Portugal Under 17 or 18 (Under 16, ed.) also took part. I wanted to watch them two or three times'' begins Valckx in conversation with the football magazine.

Then the former defender goes into the Portuguese national team. ''In the first match, they played on Friday afternoon. One player stood out to me right away. It turned out to be Cristiano Ronaldo, I saw it on the team sheet. 'Damn, we need to sign that player at PSV'. Because of my time as a player at Sporting Clube de Portugal, I have a good command of the Portuguese language. After the final whistle, I walked over to him,'' continues the man from Limburg with his story.

The Portuguese world footballer already knew about PSV back then. ''I spoke to him for about ten minutes. Asked him about his plans and things like that. He knew the club PSV, thought it was a great club, knew about Romário and Ronaldo who had played there,'' Valckx recalls.

After this meeting, Valckx often had telephone contact with the current Portuguese world footballer. ''After that, I got his mobile number. He seemed to me an ideal acquisition for PSV. After that match I had already seen enough and I drove back to Eindhoven immediately after the match. I then called him a few times and asked whether he was interested in coming'', the former scout still recalls.

Nevertheless, the Portuguese decided to stay with Sporting Lisbon, before then switching in the summer of 2003 to Manchester United. ''There was a lot of interest in him. In Spain, clubs went after him; he was also being followed in other countries. After the last phone call, I was given his agent's number. He said that there were many options on the table. In 2003, he left Sporting for Manchester United, which was probably already playing at a high level then. There, of course, he could earn much more and the Premier League has more prestige,'' continues the former defender.

A transfer to PSV therefore did not happen and so there was great disappointment. ''We felt a bit done over and were disappointed, because we were so close. I saw Cristiano Ronaldo again twice after that. In Madeira and three years ago in Porto. Because of my ambassadorship with FC Robinstijn (a foundation that fulfills football wishes for children who could use a helping hand, red.), I arranged a meeting with a young fan in a hotel,'' said Valckx.