'Could have been' - Dutch legend makes bold claim about Manchester United ace Cristiano Ronaldo

Former Netherlands international Wesley Sneijder has claimed that he could have been as good as Cristiano Ronaldo had he put more effort into his career.

Sneijder enjoyed a stellar career, playing for Ajax, Real Madrid and Inter Milan before retiring in 2019. One of the many highlights of the attacking midfielder's career was winning the treble with Inter in 2010 under Jose Mourinho.

Though Sneijder was never really viewed as one of the top three players in the world, the 38-year-old has claimed that he could have been as good as Lionel Messi or Ronaldo had he sacrificed certain things in life.

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“I could have been like Messi or Ronaldo. I simply didn’t feel like it”, he said in an interview with transfer expert Gianluca Di Marzio. “I enjoyed my life, and maybe I drank a glass of wine at dinner.

“Leo and Cristiano are different, they made many sacrifices. That’s OK with me, as my career has been amazing.”

When addressing the Sneijder to Old Trafford rumours last September, Sir Alex Ferguson said: "Well, you mention the boy Sneijder. That's come up a lot of times but we were never interested in Sneijder. I don't know where that came from but you get a lot of them. Every Sunday, in The People, when I first came, they were throwing names in all the time, you know."

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