A surprise: Tuchel denied Chelsea the signing of Cristiano Ronaldo

Todd Boehly, the former Chelsea owner, tried to sign Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo during his second spell with Manchester United, before the forward's move to Al-Nassr of Saudi Arabia.

According to "The Athletic", Boehly met players' agent Jorge Mendes in Portugal at the time and walked away extremely keen on the idea of landing Ronaldo.

Ronaldo was unhappy during that second stint at Old Trafford. But Thomas Tuchel, Chelsea's manager back then, made his strong opposition to any deal for the Portuguese striker clear on several occasions.

Tensions with Tuchel grew after Boehly failed to sign any of Matthijs de Ligt, Raphinha, Frenkie de Jong and Presnel Kimpembe.

Raheem Sterling proved less contentious. Boehly personally led the negotiations to bring him in from Manchester City in a deal worth 47.5 million pounds sterling.

Speaking at an event last February, Boehly admitted his transfer strategy was not scientific enough.

He said: "I found myself stuck in the interim sporting director role over the summer, without knowing what makes a footballer good. But I knew that if Manchester City wanted Marc Cucurella, then I wanted him. It was as simple as that."

Boehly stepped down as Chelsea's interim sporting director in January 2023.