Patrice Evra claimed that Cristiano Ronaldo wanted to join Paris Saint-Germain in 2018 – a team that Lionel Messi would eventually sign for just a few years later.
Ronaldo played alongside Evra at Manchester United for three years, before the Portuguese playmaker made a £80million (€94m) move to Real Madrid. He stayed at Madrid for almost 10 years, winning four Champions Leagues, two La Ligas, three UEFA Supercups and three FIFA Club World Cups.
In 2018, Ronaldo was searching for a new club after winning the treble with Madrid, and he had plenty of options to pick from. One club under consideration was Paris Saint-Germain, and Evra claimed that this was the place the star was going to go at the time.
Speaking to Rothen s’enflamme in December, the 43-year-old said that Ronaldo was interested in the project at PSG. At the time, their frontline consisted of Edinson Cavani, Neymar Jr and Kylian Mbappe.
Evra said: “Has Cristiano ever wanted to come to PSG? Yes. Before he signed for Juventus, he would have signed for Paris. He wanted to come to PSG. He had options. Chelsea, Juventus, Paris, Arsenal never. He said he would never go to Arsenal. But he was interested in the PSG project.”
Just three years on from this potential Ronaldo move to PSG, fellow footballing icon Messi left Barcelona and joined PSG on a free transfer, staying there for two years and winning the Ligue 1 title twice.
Messi played upfront alongside Neymar and Mbappe, scoring 32 goals and assisting 34 times across 75 appearances for the French side. Evra also had something to say about Messi’s time in Paris, claiming that Ronaldo would’ve done better for the club than the Argentinian – and even went as far as to say that he believed Messi hated his time there.
Evra said: “If you look at Messi’s stats, he had a great season. I think Messi hated France. He said in an interview that he wanted to leave. You can criticise Cristiano Ronaldo all you want, but he would have adapted, like he did in Saudi Arabia. He would have made an effort. Look at what he is doing in Saudi Arabia.”
Despite the potential for Ronaldo and Messi to link up in Paris – which would’ve required the Portuguese star to stay with the club for a fourth year at least – things didn’t work out in the footballing world for these two icons to play together. Instead, Ronaldo headed to Juventus, where he won two Serie A titles and one Italian Cup.
He then headed back to the Premier League to play for Manchester United once again. He left United after one season and now plays his club football for Saudi Pro League side Al-Nassr, while Messi moved from Paris to the United States in 2023 and continues to play for David Beckham’s MLS side Inter Miami.
