How Sir Alex Ferguson ‘refused to let Cristiano Ronaldo leave stadium until he signed for Man Utd’
CRISTIANO RONALDO was not allowed to go home after a match until he signed for Manchester United, according to Rio Ferdinand.
The duo won three Premier League titles and the Champions League during their six years as team-mates.
Man Utd paid Sporting Lisbon £12million for Ronaldo – just a year after Ferdinand went from Leeds to Old Trafford.
Sir Alex Ferguson‘s side had a pre-season friendly against the Portuguese club and CR7 dazzled Red Devils chiefs during the game.
So much so, that the legendary boss spoke to him after the game and made sure he chose Man Utd ahead of any other club.
Ferdinand told the BBC: “We were invited to go to play Sporting to open their stadium.
“We had just missed out on signing Ronaldinho. We were all excited thinking we were getting Ronaldinho, then he went and signed for Barcelona. We were all a bit deflated.
“We were going to play Sporting and you start getting whispers, they’ve got this kid called Ronaldo, meant to be really good.
“I didn’t think anything of it and the game starts. Then we are looking at each other and you’re like, ‘OK, this kid is the real deal’.
“Look at him, he is like doing mad stuff, he is embarrassing a couple of our players.
“The we were all standing there saying, ‘Oh my God, we’ve got to sign him.’
“On the coach after, waiting everyone’s sitting there going, ‘Been here an hour, waiting, what’s going on? We’ve got to get to the airport.’
“Noise starts travelling back through the coach that David Gill, who was CEO, and the manager are in there.
“They have got Cristiano in a vice-like lock, waiting. He can’t leave the stadium until he signs and agrees to come to United.”
Ronaldo, who celebrates his 40th birthday today, went on to make 346 appearances for the club over two spells, scoring 145 goals.
Unlock even more award-winning articles as The Sun launches brand new membership programme – Sun Club.
Inside Cristiano Ronaldo's incredible life
AS arguably the greatest player of all time, Cristiano Ronaldo lives a life befitting such a superstar.
Ron loves a fast motor almost as much as scoring goals with his vast car collection including one costing £9MILLION.
Upon moving to Saudi – Ronaldo moved into a luxury skyscraper hotel before swapping it for an Arabian mansion.
As a globetrotter, Ronaldo likes to travel in style like onboard this luxury private jet.
Behind every great man is a great woman, and Ronaldo has one in partner Georgina Rodriguez.
Georgina opened up on the moment they first met when she was working as a shop girl, saying it was “love at first sight”.
Before meeting Georgina, Ronaldo dated some of the world’s hottest women including Kim Kardashian and Irina Shayk.
Now it’s all about the family, with Ronaldo’s offspring now capable of making up a five-a-side team.
Ronaldo’s very well paid on the pitch, but he makes a ton of money off it too with endorsement deals ranging from KFC to his own range of underpants.
He’s also a prolific investor and owns a string of hotels.
He’s currently building a holiday resort in the Red Sea which has been dubbed “a new paradise”.
Ronaldo gives back too – which is one of the reasons he doesn’t have any tattoos.
He’s highly dedicated, as a look inside his health and fitness regime shows.
That dedication saw him transform from a weedy teen to hulking Adonis.
Head here to read more on Cristiano Ronaldo.