Selling Cristiano Ronaldo for £80m will be the best bit of business any football club will ever do. We paid a fraction of that for him, we won three league titles, a European Cup, an FA Cup and two League Cups with him scoring in the finals of all of those competitions, and when he was ready to leave, we still made a massive profit on him. Genius.
Ronaldo has today praised the impact of Sir Alex Ferguson on his career, claiming that the manager instilled the passion for football in him and owes him everything.
“I have said many times that it is the relationship a son has with a father,” said Ronaldo. “He respects me and I respect him and when one of us is talking, the other one listens. It is not a one-sided relationship. We both hear each other out and that is why we have got on so well. He taught me everything about football and I have never met a man who is so passionate about the game after so many years. He instilled that passion into me and he made me a winner. The most important thing he taught me is that second place is not an option. He also taught me lots of things in order to make me a better person and people might not understand how much time he invests in players off the pitch. But he really does and he cares about each and every one of us.”
Ronaldo went as far as saying he wish he never had to part ways with the manager and recalls the conversation with Ferguson which lead to him wearing the number seven shirt.
“In an ideal world, I would like him to be my life coach and for me to never leave him but that is not possible and I just have to continue my journey and hold on to what he has taught me,” he continued. “Sir Alex has shown so much confidence in me and for that I owe him everything. When I arrived – even though I did not want it – he insisted I have number seven on my shirt. I was very adamant that I did not want it. Then, he sat me down and told me about the history of the number seven and said…’do you understand what I am trying to say to you? I think you will be worthy of wearing this shirt.’ When I think of the greats who have worn that United shirt, I understood how much confidence he had in me. And I hope now that I am another Manchester United great who wore the most famous shirt at the club.”
