Former Barcelona sports director Robert Fernandez admits they had the chance of signing Cristiano Ronaldo when he was with Sporting CP.

Ronaldo, now with Juventus, would eventually sign for Manchester United before being sold to Real Madrid.

But Robert revealed Barca considered a move for Ronaldo after spotting him in 2003 at the Toulon Tournament.

"I called Jorge Mendes and I said 'I'm Robert Fernández and I work for Valencia and I'm going to be watching the Portugal match and then I want to meet you and have a drink'," he said.

"And so it was, we met at the Toulon field, behind the rostrum, in a hotel. And at the end of the game in which Cristiano was very good, I saw that Barça was there. There was a 'scoutter' whose name I don't remember but who was well known.

"In Portugal, a very good striker called (Ricardo) Quaresma played. Well, after the game, when I saw Barça arrive I told him: 'What a great player Cristiano is, but that (Quaresma) is also a great player'.

"I don't know why, Barça ended up signing Quaresma and in the end it didn't go very well."