Ferguson missed his big chance

Alex Ferguson believes signing Ronaldinho would have given his Manchester United side a “big chance” in the Champions League.

Ronaldinho snubbed United to join Barcelona in a £21m (€30m) deal from Paris St Germain.

United manager Ferguson was left frustrated because he did not get the chance to discuss the move with the Brazilian World Cup winner, instead dealing with Ronaldinho’s brother Roberto Assis.

“I felt that if we had got Ronaldinho we would have had a big chance in Europe,” Ferguson told The News Of The World.

“Without him, we can’t really do anything different from what we tried last year. He would have given us more options.

United’s rivals have been spending money, but Ferguson said: “It hasn’t been a frustrating summer really in terms of bringing players in. We’ve missed players in the past.

“This season I wasn’t tempted by Damien Duff at £17m (€24.5m) and it wasn’t a disappointment to see Harry Kewell move to Liverpool.

“In my experience, the players who have really wanted to come to Old Trafford have all done well.

“It’s when they start prevaricating that we walk away. We stretched it too far for Ronaldinho and waited too long for him.”