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Cristiano Ronaldo Named His Top Five Stars To Watch In 2015

Cristiano Ronaldo Named His Top Five Stars To Watch In 2015

Ronaldo's assessment on his five players was pretty spot on.

Nasir Jabbar

Nasir Jabbar

Cristiano Ronaldo named five young superstars to keep an eye on back in 2015 with the likes of Eden Hazard and Neymar picked out.

The then-Real Madrid 'Galactico' was speaking ahead of the release of his biopic in 2015 and revealed the five players he was backing for major success.

He selected Hazard, Neymar, Paul Pogba, Memphis Depay and Martin Odegaard as the budding talents to watch.

Image: PA
Image: PA

Image: PA
Image: PA

"You see many players with potential, I will mention Odegaard of Madrid for example," he said, five years ago. "At 16 he's still young but you can see he's a very good player.

"Hazard for example, the No7 of Manchester, Depay, is a good player too. Pogba... and maybe Neymar."

Neymar (Paris Saint-Germain)

Neymar had enjoyed great success at the time of Ronaldo's praise, winning La Liga and the Champions League.

But the Brazilian international went onto secure a world record transfer of £198 million to Paris Saint-Germain, where he has won three league titles.

Eden Hazard (Real Madrid)

Just like Neymar, Hazard also endured a brilliant campaign for Chelsea before Ronaldo's seal of approval.

He scored 14 Premier League goals as the Blues won the league title while swooping plenty of individual honours including the FWA Footballer of the Year 2014/15. He signed for Real Madrid last summer.

Paul Pogba (Manchester United)

Pogba was still plying his trade for Juventus in Italy when Ronaldo applauded the Frenchman's incredible work in midfield.

And, of course, he eventually returned to Manchester United not to mention winning the World Cup in 2018.

Memphis Depay (Lyon)

Unlike the previous names, Depay initially failed to live up to his potential after leaving PSV for Manchester United. He took Ronaldo's old No.7 shirt yet was unable to replicate his performances in the Netherlands.

The Dutchman, however, returned to his goal scoring ways when he bagged 19 league goals for Lyon in the 2017/18 season.

Martin Odegaard (Real Madrid)

After making his debut for Norway at the age of 15, Ronaldo tipped Odegaard for superstardom.

Odegaard then moved to Real Madrid but failed to make the grade with the player enjoying loan spells away from the Spanish capital. He's back with Real Madrid and started his side's opening league game of the new season.

Featured Image Credit: PA/PA

Topics: Paul Pogba, Football News, Eden Hazard, Football, Martin Odegaard, Memphis Depay, Neymar, Cristiano Ronaldo