Cristiano Ronaldo left architect Eduardo Souto Moura stunned after revealing unexpected Real Madrid decision during Manchester mansion talks

Cristiano Ronaldo once planned to build a massive luxury mansion while he was playing for Manchester United in England. The idea looked serious at the time. Ronaldo even spoke with a well-known Portuguese architect about designing the house. But the plan suddenly stopped after an unexpected issue with the land where the house would be built.

Portuguese architect Eduardo Souto Moura recently spoke about the incident in an interview with the Portuguese newspaper Público. He explained how he met Ronaldo, how their meetings went in Manchester, and what exactly caused the mansion project to collapse. According to Moura, the discussion ended with a strong reaction from Ronaldo, who told him, “I’m going to Real Madrid and I’m not building a house.”

Architect Eduardo Souto Moura recalls Cristiano Ronaldo’s reaction during Manchester mansion talks

In his interview with Público, Eduardo Souto Moura explained that his connection with Cristiano Ronaldo came through António Salvador, a contractor who later became the president of S.C. Braga. Salvador knew Moura’s work well because the architect had designed the famous Estádio Municipal de Braga, the home stadium of the club.

“I was suggested to him by a friend of his, a contractor [Salvador] who later became president of Braga, and who told Ronaldo that I had built the Braga Stadium,” Moura said. “He asked me if I wanted to build Ronaldo’s house and I said okay.”

After that conversation, Moura traveled to Manchester to meet Ronaldo and discuss the design of the house. During the meeting, the architect noticed how focused Ronaldo already was on his training routine.

“I had a meeting with him. I went to Manchester. I got on a plane and went there and asked: ‘How do you want the house and so on.’ The usual things. But he’s a unique guy. It impressed me because he interrupted the conversation every 15 minutes because he was going to do training. I understand Ronaldo, that’s the result of a titanic effort,” Moura said.

However, things changed when Moura studied the land Ronaldo had bought. The architect discovered that building such a large house would require removing 16 protected cork oak trees from the property. Moura refused to allow that to happen.

“But the house didn’t go ahead because he had bought a plot of land with a large area, but the house was so big that 16 cork oak trees would have to be cut down. I told him: ‘I’m not going to cut down cork oak trees. We’ll have to change land.’ He got angry with the agent and told me: ‘I’m going to Real Madrid and I’m not building a house’,” Moura said.

Moura also remembered a lighter moment from their talks. Ronaldo had asked for a special feature inside the house: a jacuzzi placed right next to his bed. The architect gently rejected the idea.

“He wanted a jacuzzi at the foot of the bed, and I told him: ‘No, you’ll drown; you’ll wake up groggy and still fall into the jacuzzi!’ There were things I wouldn’t do, that’s it. He understood and laughed,” Moura added.

Although the mansion project never moved forward, Ronaldo still owned a property in the Manchester area during his first spell at Manchester United. According to The Manchester Evening News, he later sold that house in 2019 for around £3.25 million.