Where are they now? The 5 players Cristiano Ronaldo wanted Real Madrid to sign in 2018

Back in 2018, Cristiano Ronaldo reportedly wanted Real Madrid to sign five specific players and we’ve checked out where they are today.

Of course, Ronaldo ultimately ended up leaving the club at the end of the 2017-18 campaign following their triumph over Liverpool in the Champions League.

However, as per a TeamTalk report from February 2018, here are the five players that Ronaldo wanted the club to sign prior to his departure.

David De Gea

Had it not been for a dodgy fax machine, De Gea would’ve already been playing for Real Madrid as the club originally tried to sign him in 2015.

As the club had shipped 44 goals throughout their 2017-18 La Liga campaign, they were in the market for an upgrade on Keylor Navas.

While De Gea was someone that the club considered signing, they instead opted to sign Chelsea’s Thibaut Courtois which proved to be the correct choice.

De Gea’s form started to drop off during his final years at Old Trafford while Courtois has firmly established himself as one of the best goalkeepers in the world over the last five years.

Nowadays the Belgian is still at Real Madrid while the Spaniard now plays for Fiorentina after spending the entire 2023-24 campaign as a free agent.

David Alaba

While Ronaldo himself never got the chance to play alongside Alaba, the club did take his advice and signed the Austrian international in 2021.

Signed on a free transfer upon his deal at Bayern Munich expiring, Alaba has proven to be a good pickup for the Spanish giants.

His experience has helped Real Madrid get over the line on numerous occasions as he’s won eight trophies over the last three and a half years.

Injuries have hampered his involvement of late, but he’s set to make a return from an ACL injury in the coming weeks.

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Leonardo Bonucci

Instead of Bonucci joining Ronaldo at Real Madrid, the Portuguese forward made the switch to Juventus and linked up with the Italian star in Turin instead.

Given the number of goals Real Madrid had conceded throughout 2017-18, it was no wonder that Ronaldo was keen to add some defensive reinforcements at the time.

In total, Ronaldo played 108 games alongside Bonucci at Juventus and won five trophies alongside the Italian defender.

Marquinhos

Another defender Ronaldo was keen for Real Madrid to sign was PSG’s Marquinhos. While Real Madrid have been linked with the Brazilian on a few occasions, nothing has ever come of their interest.

Instead, the 30-year-old has spent his peak years playing in Paris where he’s racked up over 450 appearances.

READ: 6 big-name footballers who’ve had beef with Cristiano Ronaldo: Rodri, Rooney…

Goncalo Guedes

According to reports at the time, Ronaldo didn’t want Real Madrid to go after the likes of Neymar or Harry Kane as he instead wanted the club to sign his fellow countryman Guedes.

At the time, Guedes had been performing well for Valencia, averaging a goal contribution every 174 minutes in La Liga.

However, instead of signing Guedes, the club signed Vinicius Junior in the summer of 2018 which proved to be the correct choice.

Nowadays Guedes is on the books at Wolves, where he’s often used as an impact substitute. In 529 minutes of Premier League football, he’s produced two goals and four assists during 2024-25.

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Author Of article : Ben Stewart

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