From the moment Cristiano Ronaldo walked through the door at Old Trafford in 2003, Roy Keane knew the club had signed a world batsman.
Manchester United had acted swiftly to catch the wanted 18-year-old and paid him £ 12.24million at Sporting Lisbon, after seeing him give John O’Shea the run.
Keane and Ronaldo played at Manchester United together and the captain immediately predicted big things for him
In his autobiography, The Second Half, Keane said, “I liked the boy straight away. He had a nice presence around him and a good attitude.
“What impressed me the most was that he had the opportunity to stay in Lisbon for another year, on loan, but he said no; he came immediately to Manchester. I thought it was a good and courageous decision – because he was only seventeen.
“After the first few days watching him train, my reaction was, ‘This boy is going to be one of the greatest players in the world.’ I haven’t said it publicly, because I’d always be wary of building a player too early – or knocking them out.
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Ronaldo has become a star for club and country, scoring over 700 career goals
“He looked like a player. You have to watch the play, and he did. [Zinedine] Zidane looked like a player – and Ronaldo looked like a player. The form, the body language – they were there. A little arrogance too. But he had a nice way of it; he was very nice. We forget that he was very strongly criticized when he entered the scene. He was coming down too fast on the tackle, his final product was not good enough. But – again – he was only seventeen, a kid. I was playing youth football for Rockmount in Cork at that age.
“He was amazing. He was immediately one of United’s hardest working players. Most of the players I knew worked hard, but Ronaldo had the talent on top of the pace.
“He was handsome and he knew it. He was conceited in that sense – in front of the mirror. He was a big boy, a big unit. I thought, “Of course you”. Looking at some of the other guys in front of the mirror I thought, ‘Yeh f *** in’ nugget. ‘
“But Ronaldo had for him an innocence and a kindness. I don’t think he ever slacked off, or that he was always more worried about the mirror than his game. I always thought football was his love.
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Ronaldo made a name for himself at Man United ahead of £ 80million move to Real Madrid
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And at Juventus, he continued his scoring exploits where it’s unlikely we’ll stop seeing this O’Hara and McCoist celebration anytime soon on collecting players’ shirts – and why O’Hara couldn’t ask. those of Ronaldo.
Ronaldo, now 36, won the FA Cup alongside Keane in 2004 and the forward stayed at the club for another five years where he won three Premier League titles, the Ballon d’Or and the League of Nations. champions before an £ 80million move to Real Madrid.
As anyone who watches TV knows, Keane is a difficult man to impress, but the way Ronaldo does his job left an impression on Chef de Mission Keane who always pushed his teammates to do better.
Since leaving United, Ronaldo – now at Juventus – has cemented his place among the game’s greats, with four more Ballons d’Or and Champions League successes to add to those won at Manchester.
In addition, he has broken goalscoring records both at home and is getting closer to the international stage.
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