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Remembering The Time An 18-Year-Old Ronaldo Coached A Very Young Jesse Lingard

Remembering The Time An 18-Year-Old Ronaldo Coached A Very Young Jesse Lingard

Back in 2003, an 18-year-old Cristiano Ronaldo showed his skills to a set of Manchester United youngsters, including a young Jesse Lingard.

Danny Marland

Danny Marland

In the summer of 2003, Manchester United had just signed a very talented but very raw Cristiano Ronaldo.

After impressing in a pre-season friendly for Sporting CP against the Red Devils, Sir Alex Ferguson made the decision to bring the 18-year-old to Old Trafford.

The deal ended up being around £12 million, which when you compare the sums of money teenagers go for in the modern game, is an absolute steal.


A young Cristiano Ronaldo (
MUTV)

To show off the new signing, Manchester United sent the future Ballon d'Or winner to teach a few youngsters his skills.

In this group of youngsters, featured a very young future international.

Featured amongst the youngsters is a 10-year-old Jesse Lingard, current Manchester United and England man.

A young Jesse Lingard attempting to beat his man (
MUTV)

The video also featured an insight into the mind of a young Ronaldo, who speaks about the strengths of his game at a young age.

"I think it's just the way I play. Ever since I was a youngster in Madeira, I've always been a player that enjoys taking someone on one on one."

"It's in my nature and I've always done this."


(
MUTV)

Sir Alex Ferguson is also featured, discussing his young Portuguese star.

"He speed with the ball on either foot, manipulating it, making decisions in and outside of full-backs, playing in other positions everything done at great speed."

"I think that was the thing that made me sit up."

In the video, Ronaldo is shown practicing a variety of moves such as step-overs, which have remained synonymous with the Portuguese international for the whole of his trophy-laden career.

Ronaldo then went on to have a match against the youngsters, in which he gave them a head start.

At the time, if you would have said the two would eventually face off against one another then the odds would have been very slim.

But last night, that happened as Lingard started for Manchester United against Ronaldo's Juventus at the Allianz Arena.

Ronaldo scored a stunning opener, but Lingard had the last laugh as Manchester United scored two in the final five minutes to win the game 2-1.

Lingard then poked fun at Ronaldo's celebration on Twitter.

Ronaldo's coaching clearly helped Lingard, as the 25-year-old has notched up 140 games for Manchester United, including scoring a winner in the FA Cup final in 2016 against Crystal Palace.

Featured Image Credit: Credit: MUTV

Topics: Manchester United, Jesse Lingard, Cristiano Ronaldo