Al-Nassr boss Rudi Garcia has joked that he attempted to try and lure Lionel Messi to the club before swooping for Cristiano Ronaldo.
The two icons have been jostling for the title of the greatest ever player for most of their careers. After winning all there is to win at club level, some have compared their international exploits as a barometer.
Ronaldo won Euro 2016 with Portugal as the country won their first ever piece of major silverware. Meanwhile, Messi got his hands on the Copa America in 2021 before lifting the World Cup with Argentina last month.
READ MORE: Ferdinand defends Ronaldo move to Saudi Arabia
Ronaldo was club-less during the tournament having had his Manchester United contract mutually terminated shortly before his nation’s opener with Ghana in November. He penned a lucrative deal with Al-Nassr last week following repeated links with a move to Saudi Arabia.
Some have criticised the 37-year-old for making such an end-of-career move, making comparisons with Messi - two years his junior - who is reportedly about to pen a new deal with Paris Saint-Germain.
Garcia risked giving the perception of creating a hierarchy when he joked about trying to sign Messi first ahead of Ronaldo’s capture during a recent press conference. He said: “First I tried to take Messi,” before breaking into laughter.
During his controversial interview with Piers Morgan in November that led to his exit, Ronaldo was very complimentary of Messi. The superstar said: “[Messi is an] amazing player, he’s magic, top.
"As a person, we share the stage for 16 years, imagine, 16 years, we share. He’s a guy that I really respect the way he always speaks about me.
“Even his wife or my wife, my girlfriend, they always respect and they're from Argentina. My girlfriend is from Argentina. So good.”
Also in November, his new boss, Garcia, confirmed he was close to becoming the interim boss at United following the exit of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
He said: “I think that any coach would be delighted to train a great star like Cristiano and already in November 2021 I was very close to going to United.
“They chose Ralf Rangnick, but I met twice with John Murtough and Darren Fletcher. I came very close to coaching this club and was very motivated to go, who wouldn’t be motivated to coach United?
"Any coach. United’s simple interest has allowed me to be sure of my ambitions in the future.”
READ NEXT:
