As the transfer talk heated up, the prospect of seeing Cristiano Ronaldo in a Manchester City jersey increasingly dismayed greats from the red half of town — particularly Rio Ferdinand.

How could the player he won three Premier League titles and the Champions League with at Manchester United contemplate returning to the Premier League with their greatest rival?

“I rang him straight away,” Ferdinand said. “What’s going on? Tell me you’re lying.”

By that point, Ronaldo’s agent, Jorge Mendes, had already told Juventus on Thursday the five-time world player of the year wanted out of the final season of his contract.

His destination, publicly at least, and not disputed by City, looked like being the blue half of Manchester.

Signing one of the greatest players of all time — especially a United legend — would have been the perfect way for City to end a difficult week. Its long-running pursuit of Harry Kane had spectacularly collapsed when it realized Tottenham wouldn’t sell the striker who was the Premier League’s top scorer last season for even 100 million pounds ($138 million)