A surprising story from Cristiano Ronaldo’s past has come to light and is making headlines. Former Brazilian striker Mario Jardel, who shared a locker room with the Portuguese star at Sporting Lisbon in the early 2000s, revealed that his sister Jordana had a brief romance with the then up-and-coming footballer.

Jardel himself shared the anecdote in an interview with Globo Esporte, joking that CR7 could have become his brother-in-law.

Mario Jardel’s confession

The former striker, who at the time was already a star in Europe and a two-time Golden Boot winner, recalled his relationship with a young Cristiano Ronaldo, who was just taking his first steps in professional football. “I would receive the ball and tell him: ‘Come on, kid, cross it in and learn how to head it,’” he said about their training sessions together.

Laughing, he added: “My sister dated Cristiano for a while. He could have been my brother-in-law, but he wasn’t. That’s the past now, and the past is a museum.”

Jardel, who shone at clubs like Grêmio and Porto, also pointed out that he was the one who helped Ronaldo improve his aerial game, one of the skills that has defined his career.

From Sporting to global stardom

Back then, Cristiano Ronaldo was just a promising youngster from Sporting’s academy. Shortly after, in 2003, he signed for Manchester United, where he began building the legend that today makes him one of the greatest players of all time.

Meanwhile, Jardel had already left his mark as a top scorer in international competitions: he finished as the leading scorer in both the Copa Libertadores with Grêmio and the Champions League with Porto—a feat no other Brazilian has matched.

Today, long retired, Jardel works as a motivational speaker, sharing lessons from his career and the difficult moments he faced off the pitch. As for Cristiano Ronaldo, at 39 he continues to compete at the highest level with Al-Nassr in Saudi Arabia and with the Portugal national team, remaining a central figure in world football.

Jardel’s revelation is a quirky footnote from the past, and one that surely won’t sit well with Georgina Rodríguez, Cristiano’s current partner. Still, it shows how even the biggest stars in sport have little-known stories from their early days before reaching the very top.