Arsene Wenger has revealed Cristiano Ronaldo was so close to signing for Arsenal he even had a shirt made up.

Manchester United winger Ronaldo, who this week scooped the prestigious Ballon d'Or, admits he came "within a whisker" of opting for north London ahead of Old Trafford when he moved from Portugal in 2003.

Wenger feels in the end, the fact Portuguese-born Carlos Queiroz was working at United proved a decisive factor in the player's eventual £12million transfer.

The Arsenal manager said: "It is like me signing players from France because I know them well. The price that we discussed was much lower - it was divided by three - but, of course, he has proved to be a bargain."

Gunners boss Wenger revealed: "I had Ronaldo at the training ground. I showed him around and I gave him a shirt. It has got his name on the back. I wanted him to be here.

"He went to Man United and made a career and he would have done that here.

"I saw that he was an exceptional talent, but we could not predict that he would become the player that he is."

Ronaldo has gone on to become arguably the world's greatest player.

Under Sir Alex Ferguson. the 23-year-old has added deadly finishing to his repertoire of skills and tricks.

After five years at Old Trafford, it looked as if he was going to sign for Real Madrid last summer, but he ended up staying at United.

"I don't want to return to that. I have already spoken a lot about it," Ronaldo said.

"I am at Manchester United and I feel very good at this club. I don't want to create other problems.

"For two or three months, people have spoken more about this than about football and I don't want to talk about it any more."

Ronaldo will collect the prestigious Ballon d'Or in an awards ceremony in Paris tomorrow.

He admits it was a childhood dream to win that accolade and feels United boss Sir Alex Ferguson has made it all possible.

"I am a great professional thanks to him," he added.

"It was him who took me from Sporting and brought me to Manchester. He is a great man. A great manager. His record of achievements speaks for itself. Most important is his personality - I love working with him.

"My concentration has changed. I have become a winner. Here, you always have to win and I know the pressure of winning matches, trophies. And it is here, with Alex Ferguson, that I started to believe I could win the Ballon d'Or."

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