CRISTIANO RONALDO and Lionel Messi came ‘very close’ to playing each other in a £90million All-Stars supermatch at Wembley – where they would have hand-picked the global starting XIs.
Chelsea owner Todd Boehly created headlines last month when he also mooted the prospect of playing a glitzy, one-off Premier League North versus South tie.
However, it is a concept that has been long established in US sports such as Major League Soccer, baseball, basketball and the NFL.
But a new book – entitled ‘Messi vs Ronaldo’ – has unearthed details of a behind-the-scenes mega-money business idea that had the backing of the two greatest players of this generation.
The book also reveals Everton snubbed the chance to sign Ronaldo for just £2million and Ronaldo carried with him a note documenting all his honours, major landmarks, goal-scoring attributes and hat-tricks.