Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis has admitted that the Serie A side were offered Cristiano Ronaldo before the Portugal star joined Juventus.
The five time ballon d’Or winner left Real Madrid for Jiventus on a four-year contract that will see him pocket €30 million (£26.5m/$35m) per season.
Real Madrid was paid €100m (£88m/$117m) plus €12m (£10.5/$14m) more in additional charges for the 33-year-old.
And De Laurentiis said he had the chance to sign the former Manchester United man for Napoli but that such decision would have been financially disastrous for the club.
“Ronaldo had also been offered to Napoli,” he confirmed to La Gazzetta dello Sport.
“I called his agent, Jorge Mendes. We also formulated our offer and we would have paid Ronaldo with a percentage on the subsequent profits guaranteed by his arrival.
“The €350 million that Juventus will invest is beyond our reach, we would have risked pushing the club towards bankruptcy.”
Ronaldo spent nine seasons at Real Madrid where he scored 311 goals in 292 league appearances.
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