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What Cristiano Ronaldo Was Like When He First Joined Manchester United in 2003

What Cristiano Ronaldo Was Like When He First Joined Manchester United in 2003

The Portuguese legend wasn't always the world-beater he is today and one of his teammates reveals his first days at Manchester United.

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By Mike Parrott

Cristiano Ronaldo joined Manchester United from Sporting CP back in 2003 for £12 million. The Portuguese legend wasn't the man he is today, but he still had a little bit of skill to him.

When Sporting CP played Manchester United in the Summer of 2003, a young Portuguese Winger dominated a Manchester United defensive line coming off a fresh Premier League trophy.

The 18 year-old was that good on that night that Sir Alex Ferguson made him a priority, signed him for a big fee of nearly £13 Million and handed him the number 7.

As we know that was the start of Cristiano Ronaldo at Manchester United and the initial push to super-stardom that the winger-turned-striker endured.

Ronaldo in his early days was nothing like the current Juventus Ronaldo we see these days. There wasn't the Greek statue physique, the unparalleled athleticism, and probably the best-ever off-ball movement football has ever seen.

If anything, the young Portuguese winger was, a winger. Very thin and preferring to keep the ball to himself, Ronaldo was known more for his fantastic skills and showboating in his first season at Manchester United rather than the goalscoring prowess he's synonymous for today.

Speaking on "The Broken Metatarsal" Podcast, hosted by Planet Football, Eddie Johnson spoke about Ronaldo's early days.

Johnson was a former Manchester United youth product and would train often in the 2003/04 United first team squad.

The former Youth product remembers when he first laid his eyes on Ronaldo when the Portugal star arrived at Carrington for the first time:

"He appeared at the front entrance at Carrington and I remember seeing him thinking 'who's this kid?' because his gear was terrible. He was in some terrible roll neck and really tight washed-out jeans...Someone says that's Ronaldo, the new signing, then we go out to train."

The first training session with Ronaldo for Johnson wasn't as forgiving as you'd expect from an 18 year-old debutant:

"I was still quite young, but I was training with the first team and we did the 5 v 2 warm-up like we did every day, and he did the most audacious bit of skill and put it through the legs of one of the other young lads."

"He'd confused him that much that he'd crossed his feet together and ended up landing flat on his face. Everyone was looking round going 'there's a player here' so from that day on it was pretty exciting."

Ronaldo burst on the scene immediately for United with an astounding, albeit lucky Free-kick goal against Bolton on his debut. With David Beckham departing in the same Summer for Real Madrid, a certain Dutch striker was becoming frustrated with the bold differences between Ronaldo and Beckham:

"Everyone knew he was a talent and he could change games and he was exciting to watch, but Ruud van Nistelrooy got very frustrated with him in terms of making runs into the box and Ronaldo would like to take the full-back on three or four times."

"I think they were all questioning his game management and his delivery into the box. Ruud was used to David Beckham crossing or Ryan Giggs crossing and he'd get on the end of it all day long."

Johnson believed as well that Ronaldo benefited greatly from the presence of Sir Alex Ferguson. The Manager-Player relationship between Ferguson and Ronaldo is widely known these days, with many people alluding to the similarities of a Father-Son relationship.

The youth product believed this helped Ronaldo immensely:

"The manager was a father figure to him because Ronaldo's dad had his issues and had passed away so I think the manager took on that role and I think that's one of the main reasons why he got the best out of him.

"The lads give him a bit of grief. They'd say your dad's here or if there was ever any issues they'd say go and tell your dad about it. But it was all fun and games, and the relationship in the end proved to the best for Manchester United and Cristiano."

Ferguson kept his faith in Cristiano Ronaldo though. It took four seasons together for United to get back to their winning ways in the Premier League. The longest it had taken for United to win the Premier League since it's inception in 1992.

Ronaldo ultimately went on to one-up that 2006/07 Season in 2007/08 when United went on to win another Premier League as well as winning the UEFA Champions League for the first time since 1999.

Ronaldo scored 42 goals that Season, a Manchester United record, winning Ballon D'Or for his efforts.

His transfers to Real Madrid, then Juventus followed on over the next ten years, however, Ronaldo will always be the 18 year-old with noodle-hair and fancy feet to every Manchester United fan alike.

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