Inter Milan came close to landing Manchester United star Cristiano Ronaldo as a 17 year-old, reveals former coach Luis Suarez.

"He was 17-years-old and a Spanish friend called me to tell me that there was a player in Sporting Lisbon's youth side who was a League above," Suarez told Spanish newspaper AS.

"After watching just one game I could see that he was right and I saw that things would have to be done quickly.

"I went to Ronaldo's house in Lisbon. We didn't talk about money but I'm sure that £1m or so would've been enough to sign him.

"However, there was nothing that we could do because Sporting reached an agreement with Manchester United," he said.