Cristiano Ronaldo exhausted all superlatives during his first spell with Manchester United, while he matured from an inexperienced, young winger in 2003 into officially the best football player on the planet in 2009.

On the sidereal day he departed for Real Madrid in a cope worth £80m – making him the global ‘s most expensive player – his former director Sir Alex Ferguson said, “ Cristiano has been a fantastic player for Manchester United. His contribution has been a major agent in the club ’ s success in that time and his endowment, his ability to entertain and his infectious personality have enthralled fans the world over. ” The report goes that Sir Alex was persuaded to buy Ronaldo – largely stranger when he signed as an 18-year-old for £12.24m in 2003 – by his players on the plane family from a pre-season friendly against Sporting. In truth, the boss had long been mindful of his ability. The urgency stemmed from early clubs ’ increasing interest. This was a prey Sir Alex simply could miss out on. Ronaldo wasted fiddling clock in showing off his empyreal skills with a stunning 30-minute debut against Bolton at OT in August 2003. There was a buzz of excitation ampere soon as he stepped off the workbench and, after 39 appearances and eight goals that season – including the undoer in the 3-0 FA Cup final succeed over Millwall – he was named Sir Matt Busby Player of the year. His second term didn ’ t quite live up to his inaugural, but deep season form saw him end 2004/05 with nine goals in 50 appearances. In 2005/06 Ronny again reserved his best form for the latter stages, but the inconsistencies of a develop young actor were being ironed out. He departed, fully of hope and with bang-up expectations, for the 2006 World Cup finals in Germany – what turned out to be a sincerely shaping here and now in his career. In the quarter finals, Portugal met England and, after Wayne Rooney ’ s sending off, Ronaldo became the mime villain for the English press. Some doubted he would return to Manchester. But Sir Alex assured him any ill-feeling would blow over. It ’ d happened with Eric Cantona and David Beckham. Ronaldo met the inevitable boo with the best football of his life sentence. United ’ s claim success in 2006/2007 was a team attempt, but one man took the lead character in every major plotline. It began with the barnstorming 5-1 win over Fulham – Ronaldo and Rooney ran the indicate and publicly banished claims they were at odds. Dazzling wing-play was backed with regular assists and crucial goals. His shape that season brought a glut of individual accolades and, despite matter to from other clubs – notably Real Madrid – he extended his narrow until 2012. Ronaldo improved further in 2007/08, netting a stagger 42 goals in all competitions. In May 2008 he fired United to domestic and european glory ; scoring a decisive penalty on the final examination day of the league campaign and a powerful header in the Champions League final examination in Moscow. His staggering individual performances gleaned a clean sweep of club and domestic individual honours, with ball-shaped gongs soon to follow. At Euro 2008, Ronaldo ’ sulfur future was again the subjugate of claim and counter-claim. Happily, in the end, he pledged his commitment to United, although ankle surgery delayed his begin to the 2008/09 political campaign. He made his hark back as a utility against Villarreal in the Champions League and was given a awaken home reception. Two months late, his hundredth Reds goal arrived against Stoke City at OT on 15 November 2008. Ronaldo ’ s charming 2008 was rounded off with another drawstring of individual honours. In October he was named FIFPro Player of the Year, and in December became the first gear United player since George Best in 1968 to be awarded the esteemed Ballon vitamin d ’ Or trophy. To cap it off, in January 2009, he became the first base Red to win the FIFA World Player of the Year prize. “ This is the climax of a fantastic earned run average, ” he said. “ I ‘m golden to be part of United ‘s history. It ‘s one of the most authoritative moments of my life, I hope to be second in this side again. ” While Ronaldo did not dominate on the field in 2008/09 to the like degree as he did in 2007/08, he still played a significant character as the Reds achieved a hat-trick of league titles and reached a second consecutive european Cup final. For example, Cristiano scored in all three knock-out rounds of the Champions League, including the club ‘s Goal of the Season to defeat Porto in the quarter-final second leg in his native Portugal and a double in the semi-final second leg against Arsenal. In his final appearance at Old Trafford, Ronaldo received his third gear championship decoration after the Reds sealed the entitle with a period against Arsenal. There was no indication then that Cristiano was contemplating an exit – but that all changed on 11 June 2009 when United announced he had “ expressed his desire to leave ” and that Real Madrid ‘s world record £80m offer had been accepted. Less than three weeks late, the remove was concluded. In the adjacent 12 seasons – nine with real Madrid and then three with Juventus – Ronaldo continued to evolve as a actor and add more trophies to his glittering CV, adenine good as individual honours including a further four Ballon d’Or awards, giving him five in total. By the summer of 2021, he had won over 30 major trophies during his career, including five UEFA Champions Leagues, four FIFA Club World Cups, and seven league championships after becoming the inaugural player to win the title in England, Spain and Italy. He besides experienced international glory by captaining Portugal to victory in the final examination of Euro 2016. On 27 August 2021, United stunned the football world, and delighted the club ‘s ball-shaped fan base, by announcing a transfer deal had been struck with Juventus for Ronaldo to rejoin the Reds. Four days late, his transfer was finalised. The 36-year-old was home.