Cristiano Ronaldo’s transfer from Sporting Lisbon to Manchester United in 2003 for just over £12 million was a turning point in his journey to becoming one of football’s all-time greats. The Portuguese winger was already highly regarded, but his move to England was surprisingly swift, sparked by an unforgettable performance in a pre-season friendly against Manchester United in Lisbon that August.
Ronaldo dazzled as Sporting Lisbon ended United’s unbeaten pre-season run with a 3-1 victory. Despite fielding a strong team, including Fabien Barthez, Paul Scholes, Nicky Butt, Rio Ferdinand, and John O’Shea, United struggled to contain the young star. After the match, Ronaldo was all anyone could talk about in the United dressing room and on the flight back to England, as the squad urged Sir Alex Ferguson to sign the prodigious talent.
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Ronaldo Torments Man Utd Stars
John O’Shea had a torrid time against the youngster
The United players were taken by Ronaldo’s presence on the field. Former United midfielder Quinton Fortune said: “We sat in the dressing room after the 3-1 defeat and we were just raving about him. Why wouldn’t we? He was unbelievable. Most of us had never seen anyone with such a swagger.”
United defender still teases former team mate Rio Ferdinand about the night he faced Ronaldo.
“We get in at half-time and John O’Shea must’ve needed an oxygen tank next to him. He was in bits and he was sitting there panting.
“We were telling him to get closer to Ronaldo and he couldn’t even answer us. To be fair, me, Paul Scholes and Nicky Butt were standing there, going this kid’s unbelievable, we’ve got to sign him.”
Gary Neville was another who couldn’t help be impressed by Ronaldo. He said: “I’ll never forget that game against Sporting Lisbon and the chat among the players when they got back to Manchester. Poor Sheasy [John O’Shea] was the butt of a lot of jokes for being given a run-around.”
Ronaldo also has special memories of that night, claiming: “The first game that I played against Manchester United was an unbelievable game. It was the perfect night. After the game some of my team-mates said: Listen, you’re going to go to Manchester, trust me!”
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United Wasted no Time Signing Ronaldo
He joined in the same calendar month
United, along with Arsenal and Liverpool, had been trailing Ronaldo for a year and already had a first-refusal arrangement in place with Sporting Lisbon, but speed was the key to securing his signature. Despite the players’ insistence Ferguson sign Ronaldo, some say the wily Scot was already a few steps ahead of his players, allegedly trying to sign the youngster during half-time of the friendly with Lisbon.
Former United employee Rod Thornley recalls Ferguson’s eagerness. “So half time’s come – the players’ dressing room is one side of a corridor and the management and the medical staff’s on the other side, it’s like partitioned off,” he said.
“We’ve sorted the players out, they’re on their way out to the second half, and we come to just get ourselves changed to go out for the second half. Sir Alex is in there with David Gill, and a representative from Sporting Lisbon, and whether it was the agent, I don’t know, and they’re discussing, we want to take him now, we want him tonight”.
Things did move fast anyway, with Ronaldo being at Old Trafford to sign for the club the next week. For Ronaldo, it was a whirlwind few days. “Everything came so fast, and two days after I speak to the coach and they take me to England, and I was in Manchester, and I signed,” he said.
The youngster was announced to the world alongside fellow new signing Kleberson, who had won the World Cup with Brazil the previous year. While Ronaldo was touted to do well, few would have predicted just how much he would go onto achieve in the game, for United, as well as with Real Madrid and the Portuguese national side.
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