Why Pep Guardiola passed on signing Cristiano Ronaldo at Man City

December 18, 2025 Oliver Obel

Pep Guardiola’s tenure at Manchester City has been shaped less by star names than by tactical discipline. From the outset, his teams have been built around positional structure, collective pressing, and players willing to subordinate individual roles to a wider system. That philosophy offers useful context for one high-profile move that never happened.

After leaving Manchester United, Cristiano Ronaldo was weighing options at a late stage of his career. Despite his reputation as one of football’s most prolific scorers, his next step depended as much on tactical fit as on reputation. Manchester City, then firmly established as Europe’s dominant side, was among the clubs he was prepared to consider.

A reported opportunity and a refusal

According to reporting by the Daily Mail, a book published in 2024 examining Guardiola’s years at City suggests that Ronaldo was available on a free transfer and open to joining the Premier League champions. Intermediaries, the book claims, made City aware of his interest.

Guardiola chose not to pursue the move. The account argues that while the City manager admired Ronaldo’s finishing ability and physical condition, he questioned whether the forward’s profile aligned with the highly choreographed structure City had developed over several seasons.

As quoted in the report:

"He offered himself to City last summer but Pep wasn't interested. There's no question at all that Guardiola respects his immense ability to finish chances as well as his superb physical condition, but how could this type of player fit into the precision machine the Catalan has painstakingly and strategically built at City? Thanks but no thanks, Cristiano."

Tactical fit over commercial appeal

A move across Manchester would have been highly unusual given Ronaldo’s status at Old Trafford. The Daily Mail reporting suggests the player was willing to accept that fallout had City shown interest.

For Guardiola, however, the issue was internal balance. City’s attacking framework depends on coordinated pressing, positional rotation, and players operating comfortably without being the central reference point.

By the later stages of his career, Ronaldo had become a more specialised penalty-area striker. That role still delivered goals, but it also demanded structural accommodation. That trade-off mattered.

The book portrays Guardiola as unwilling to alter a system that required collective synchronisation across the front line, particularly at a time when City’s margins for error were already narrow at the top of European football.

Career paths diverge

Ronaldo ultimately moved to Saudi Arabia, joining Al-Nassr in late 2022, where he has continued to score regularly. His output there has reinforced his enduring finishing instincts, even as his responsibilities have become more defined.

City, meanwhile, continued without a single attacking focal point. Since Guardiola’s arrival in 2016, the club has won six Premier League titles, produced a 100-point campaign in 2017/18, and completed a treble in 2022/23. They have also become the first men’s side to win four consecutive Premier League titles.

A revealing episode

If the account is accurate, the decision not to pursue Ronaldo illustrates Guardiola’s broader management logic. Rather than adjusting his framework to accommodate an iconic figure, City maintained tactical continuity a choice that aligns closely with how the club has sustained its dominance over nearly a decade.

Sources: Daily Mail