It has taken little more than four seasons for Cristiano Ronaldo’s astonishing scoring record and electrifying playing style to earn him a place alongside such legendary figures as George Best and Eric Cantona in the Manchester United pantheon, but it could have been so different. Arsène Wenger, the Arsenal manager, offered a tantalising glimpse of an alternative reality yesterday by revealing that the Portugal winger had been “very close” to signing for the North London team and that he had visited the club before going to Old Trafford.

Although it went largely unnoticed at the time, the scramble for an unknown 18-year-old at Sporting Lisbon became a stampede 4½ years ago. Arsenal and Chelsea made their interest known and Liverpool thought that they had succeeded with a £4 million bid, only for United to secure the prize at a seemingly extortionate price of £12.25 million. With the Emirates Stadium under construction at the time, Arsenal could not have gone so high, although it would have represented money well spent on a player Wenger believes should have won last year’s Ballon D’Or, rather than Kaká.

“I knew about him, yes,” Wenger said. “We were very close and we had him here. He was here much earlier. He could tell you that if he wants. But Manchester United had a partnership with Sporting Lisbon when Carlos Queiroz came in [as assistant manager] and that made the difference. One day I will tell you more about that story and you will be surprised.

“I did not expect Ronaldo to score as many as he did because he plays on the wing. He has developed very well, is good in the air, good on free kicks, right foot, left foot. Another quality Ronaldo has is he is healthy. He does not miss games. Over January 1 to December 31, 2007 he would be my player of the year.”

Ronaldo’s remarkable run of 27 goals in 28 matches this season, including nine in his past five, is threatening to deny Arsenal the Barclays Premier League title, but Wenger is hardly overcome with regret. The Frenchman possesses his own not-so-secret weapon in Emmanuel Adebayor, who appears to be the only man capable of denying Ronaldo the Golden Boot, having scored 16 league goals to the United winger’s 19.

“I would not give Adebayor to anybody,” Wenger said. “I believe in the players I have. Adebayor gives us balance which we do not have without him. Adebayor is the best striker in the Premier League at the moment. He’s mobile, he’s quick, he’s not scared and he’s brave. For me that’s a fantastic quality, especially in England.

“He has good feet, quick feet, and is a complete striker. He can still improve the timing of his runs as he sometimes gets caught offside, and just with that can score ten more goals each season.”

Wenger believes that the winner of the Golden Boot will not necessarily finish the season with a championship medal and has called on his players to relieve the pressure on Adebayor before today’s lunchtime kick-off away to Manchester City.

“I can give you many examples of the guy who scores the most goals, but his team doesn’t necessarily win,” Wenger said. “When he starts to focus only on scoring goals who pays the price? Most of all it’s the team.”

Arsenal travelled to the North West last night without Manuel Almunia, who has a thumb injury, so Jens Lehmann will make his first league start since August.