Bhubaneswar, Nov. 17 -- Star footballer and Manchester United forward Cristiano Ronaldo revealed that he was close to signing for bitter rivals Manchester City last year. However, former manager Alex Ferguson asked him not to do so.

As per Ronaldo, Ferguson persuaded him to re-join United for a second spell when he moved from Juventus in August 2021 on a two-year deal, returning to the club where he won eight major trophies from 2003-2009.

"Well, honestly, it was close. It is something they spoke about a lot and (Manchester City manager Pep) Guardiola said two weeks ago, I guess, that they tried hard to have me," Ronaldo told Piers Morgan in an interview, the first part of which was aired on Wednesday.

"But as you know, as my history w...