# Everton could have signed Cristiano Ronaldo for £2 million in 2002

URL: https://technosports.co.in/everton-signed-cristiano-ronaldo-02/  
Published: 2022-10-31  
Updated: 2022-10-31  
Author: Arsh Das

As revealed by the book, ‘Messi vs Ronaldo’, Everton has the chance to sign [Cristiano Ronaldo](https://technosports.co.in/2022/10/29/cristiano-ronaldo-involved-juventus/) back in 2002. And the transfer fee quoted to them was only £2 million. 

However, the Toffees decided against signing the 17-year-old from Sporting CP at the time. Their reasoning behind it was to develop Wayne Rooney into a star player, and show full confidence in him. 

## Cristiano Ronaldo could have joined Everton from Sporting 

> 🗞️Everton decided against signing a young 17 year old Cristiano Ronaldo for £2M in 2002. Everton were keen to put their full confidence in Wayne Rooney at the time  
>   
> (Source – [@MailSport](https://twitter.com/MailSport?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)) [pic.twitter.com/AzdW7Crc8s](https://t.co/AzdW7Crc8s)
>
> — 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗧𝗼𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗲 𝗕𝗹𝘂𝗲𝘀 (@EvertonNewsFeed) [October 30, 2022](https://twitter.com/EvertonNewsFeed/status/1586697875685351425?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)

Ronaldo went on to stay with his boyhood club for one more season before joining Manchester United in the Premier League. And the rest is history, with the winger becoming one of the best in the world. 

Wayne Rooney had an impressive spell at Everton, but eventually went on to join [Manchester United](https://twitter.com/ManUnitedZone_/status/1586783606114058243?s=20&t=bCj3LYNY9s1WyGUrz5we4w) as well. He left for United a year after Ronaldo had joined the club. And eventually, he would play together with Cristiano Ronaldo for the Red Devils, featuring in 205 games together. Rooney remains Manchester United’s all-time top scorer with 253 goals from 559 games. 

Premier League clubs Newcastle United and Arsenal were also interested in signing a 17-year-old Ronaldo. Other clubs from Europe included Juventus, Parma and Lyon, all of whom failed to sign him.