Roy Keane predicted that Cristiano Ronaldo was destined to become a superstar as soon as he arrived at Manchester United. The Portuguese sensation was just 17 when Sir Alex Ferguson brought him to Old Trafford in a £12million deal with Sporting CP. And despite his age, he instantly made a long-lasting impression on Keane - who was the club's captain at the time - due to his endless dedication to his trade, as well as his decision not to return to Portugal on loan for his first season.

Writing in his autobiography, The Second Half, the Irish midfielder said of Ronaldo: "I liked the lad straight away. He had a nice presence about him and a good attitude. "What impressed me most was that he’d been given the option of staying in Lisbon for another year, on loan, but he said no; he’d come over to Manchester straightaway. I thought it was a good, brave decision because he was only seventeen.

"After the first few days, watching him train, my reaction was, ‘This lad is going to be one of the world’s greatest players'. I didn’t say it publicly, because I’d always be wary of building a player up too early or knocking him down. "He looked like a player. You have to look the part, and he did. Zinedine Zidane looked like a player, and Ronaldo looked like a player. The shape, the body language they were there. A bit of arrogance, too. But he’d a nice way about him; he was very likeable.

"We forget that he was very heavily criticised when he first came on the scene. He was going down too quickly when tackled, his final product wasn’t good enough. But – again – he was only seventeen, a kid. I was playing youth football for Rockmount, in Cork, at that age. "He was amazing. He was immediately one of the hardest-working players at United. Most of the players I knew worked hard, but Ronaldo had the talent on top of the work rate." Ronaldo kicked off his professional career with Sporting CP in 2002, quickly catching the attention of Ferguson following a pre-season friendly on August 6 2003 which saw the Portuguese outfit run out 3-1 winners.

Ronaldo signed the dotted line for United six days later, breaking the transfer record for a teenage prospect at the time, before making his debut four days later in a 4-0 win over Bolton in the Premier League. Ronaldo scored his first goal for the Red Devils in a 3-0 win over Portsmouth in the November, and the rest is history. The winger-turned-striker went on to lift three Premier Leagues, an FA Cup and a Champions League with United before his £80m transfer to Real Madrid in 2009. He scored 450 goals and provided 131 assists for Los Blancos over the next nine years, adding two La Liga trophies and another four Champions Leagues to his list of accolades before making the move to Juventus in 2018.

Ronaldo spent three years with the Serie A outfit before returning to United for one last dance in 2021. After just over a year in the north west, he made his way to Saudi Pro League side Al-Nassr in 2023, where he has remained since. Despite being set to celebrate his 40th birthday on Wednesday (February 5), Ronaldo has showed no signs of slowing down any time soon, scoring 15 goals and providing three assists in the current Saudi Pro League campaign.

Join our new MAN UTD WhatsApp community and receive your daily dose of Manchester United content from Mirror Football. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice. United have unveiled their new adidas home kit with new front-of-shirt sponsors for the 2024/25 season - and you can get your hands on it right now.