Cristiano Ronaldo has arrived in Serie A with Juventus but former AC Milan director Marco Fassone has revealed that former president Yonghong Li had to be talked out of trying to sign him a year earlier.

The Bianconeri broke their transfer record this summer when they pounced upon the unhappiness of the Portuguese international at Real Madrid and moved to bring him to Turin.

However, ex-Milan president Yonghong Li had dreams of bringing him to Italian shores a year earlier but had to be talked out of that idea due to the costs involved, particularly as Milan went on to incur Financial Fair Play restrictions for their spending in any case.

“Mr Li wanted CR7 to become a Rossonero because he believed it would give us great strength in the Chinese market, having a player like him,” Fassone told Il Sole 24 Ore.

“The player wanted to leave Real Madrid and we met in July 2017 with his agent Jorge Mendes, to check on the costs and availability of certain players and one of them was Ronaldo.

“I convinced myself and the president to give up that dream though as Ronaldo was simply too expensive.”

Ronaldo has nonetheless hit the ground running in Serie A, scoring eight goals and providing five assists in 12 games, including a goal against Milan before the international break.