Real Missed Ronaldo

Real Madrid believe they may have errored when they chose not to offer professional contracts to some of todays biggest and best young stars.

The club's technical secretary, Miguel Angel Portugal, has revealed that he was given the chance to sign Cristiano Ronaldo, amongst other stars, but had no money available.

Under Florentino Perez, Madrid became geared towards the star names in the first team and the youth academy was virtually forgotten, resulting in several big names slipping through their fingers.

"When Cristiano Ronaldo was 14-years-old, we had the chance to sign him. The same with Messi" Portugal revealed.

"It was a shame, but at the time the youth system had no finances to sign players.

"There was a time when the club did not do what was needed for those players.

"That was during the Galacticos period, when it was more important to sign the big-name players over youngsters."