Former Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson has claimed that he wanted £150m for Cristiano Ronaldo before he was sold to Real Madrid in 2009.

The Portuguese forward eventually moved for a then-world record £80m, but the legendary Scottish manager has revealed that he was looking for as much as £150m for his player.

Ferguson is quoted as saying by A Bola: "I told [former chief executive] David Gill to ask for £150m (€180m) and he told me not to be naive. It bothers me that we didn't charge enough. I still ask myself what Florentino Perez would have said if we had asked for £150m.

"Given that Gareth Bale moved for £85m (€100m), I believe they would have paid between £80m and £150m for Cristiano. That was very disappointing. If we had got £150m I would talk about it for the rest of my life.

"It would have been fabulous to receive that amount of money. Cristiano moved with my approval but we didn't receive a fair price."

Ronaldo won the Ballon d'Or in January.