Former Real Madrid president Ramon Calderon says that the Spanish club would not have signed Cristiano Ronaldo had it not been for him. It is widely believed that Calderon was the president who struck the £ 80 million deal to sign Ronaldo from Manchester United in 2009.

However, he was ousted from the presidency just before the transfer was completed. Ronaldo has since become a major hit at Madrid and the price for signing the Portuguese star has gone to current president Florentino Perez. Calderon reckons that Perez did not fancy signing Ronaldo for this world record transfer fee.

Calderon has recalled the events that could have almost resulted in Ronaldo staying at Manchester United. The 29-year-old recently picked up the European Golden Shoe award, while he is the favorite to win the FIFA Ballon d’Or award.

He has almost single- handedly helped the club win the Champions League – the 10th European title for Madrid. Calderon may not have much influence on Madrid these days, but he appears keen on returning back to the presidency. It would be difficult as Madrid have won the European trophy during Perez’ reign. It is likely to give a huge boost to Perez’ bid for the next term.

“When Florentino became president and came to the club, he wanted to break (negotiations). He thought it was very expensive. He knew he was a good player but thought he wasn’t worth that amount of money. That was a problem he had at the beginning with Cristiano, who knew that.

They said ‘we are not selling Cristiano, we don’t want him to go’ which is normal. But the player wanted to leave. We were negotiating for two years. Ferguson is obsessed with Real Madrid, he doesn’t like us very much,” said Calderon. Ronaldo is the top scorer in the Spanish league by some distance.