Career At Manchester United

Manchester United

Ferguson decided that he wanted the youngster for his team, who were in the market for a right-sided midfielder with the departure of David Beckham to Real Madrid; Cristiano was signed for a fee of £12.24 million. He made his debut for Manchester United as a 60th minute substitute against Bolton Wanderers at Old Trafford. United were then 1-0 up but with just minutes on the pitch, Ronaldo won a penalty which Ruud Van Nistelrooy duly converted. The match ended in a 4-0 win to Manchester United and Ronaldo's contributions were hyped everywhere, with certain British tabloids running headlines such as Seven Heaven. He has played primarily as a winger for United and can play on either wing.

However for all his skill and pace, Ronaldo supposedly did not want the pressure of living up to expectations with this number, and so initially asked for the number 28 which he wore at Sporting. Preferring a free role, he has often been accused of being selfish. A row between him and Ruud van Nistelrooy at the Carrington training ground intensified speculation about their roles at the club. Ferguson has however put his faith with Ronaldo, who signed a new deal with United that will last through 2010. Ronaldo is also quoted in the Manchester Evening News as saying "United have stood by me and been there for me and I want to repay that."

Ronaldo has often had problems with his temper during games, he was sent off in a game against Manchester City and received a one-match ban imposed by UEFA for a "one-fingered gesture" towards Benfica fans in a UEFA Champions League match in December 2005. While playing for Portugal in a friendly against Luxembourg he was given a yellow card for pushing Jeff Strasser in the throat in retaliation after Strasser tackled him. Felipe Scolari warned Ronaldo to keep his temper in check during the World Cup.

On the 29 October 2005 Ronaldo scored Manchester United's 1000th Premiership goal, in a 4–1 loss at the hands of Middlesbrough. He bagged a double double in February, with two goals at home to Fulham and another pair at Fratton Park, and also scored in the following Premiership game against Wigan taking his tally to 8 Premiership goals. On 26 February 2006, Ronaldo played in the Carling Cup Final against Wigan in the Millennium Stadium at Cardiff, and scored a goal - taking his season's tally to 10 goals.

He was named FIFPro Special Young Player of the Year 2005, the only award to be voted for by fans. He also ranked 20th in the FIFA Player of the Year 2005 standings.

On 8 July 2006, after the sending off of United team-mate Wayne Rooney, and after much speculation in the English media that he had influenced Rooney's red card, Ronaldo told reporters that he thought he "should get out of Manchester as the circumstances are not right to keep playing there."

"I have told my agent I am prepared to leave. I want to do it in the best manner possible. I want to play for Real Madrid and dream of doing so," Ronaldo told the Spanish sports daily Marca.

On 9 July, he also said for SIC, a Portuguese television channel, he cannot understand all verbal violence and pejorative speculation about him. Cristiano declared he did not behave wrongly when Portugal defeated England and so cannot be blamed for defending his home country colours. He added that he cannot live and work in a place where people do not like him, so he would be glad to move out of England.

Several news sources considered that Cristiano Ronaldo's departure from Manchester United was imminent, however, Ronaldo chose to remain at United. His decision may have been influenced by Sir Alex Ferguson, who sent assistant boss Carlos Queiroz to Portugal hoping to change the young player's mind, and teammate Wayne Rooney also pleaded with Ronaldo not to leave the team and to let their differences rest.

On July 12, United released a statement saying "The club can confirm there is no possibility of Cristiano being sold. Cristiano recently signed a new contract until 2010 and the club fully expects him to honour that contract. The club will not listen to any offers for Cristiano," and on July 17, Sir Alex Ferguson said, "Cristiano will be coming back," while Chelsea manager José Mourinho said, "If he stays in England, I think he can turn things around." Cristiano Ronaldo returned to United after all potential problems were cleared.

Nevertheless, Ronaldo remained popular with the majority of Manchester United fans when he played (and scored) in his first Premiership match since the 2006 World Cup. Manchester United fans could clearly be heard chanting "there's only one Ronaldo" at various points in the game, in a 5-1 win over Fulham F.C. Since then, a BBC report stated that Ronaldo has said he no longer wishes to leave Manchester United, and is happy to remain at the club. He continued his fine world cup form in to the start of the season, netting 4 goals in just 11 premiership games, including a fine free-kick againt Portsmouth FC Old Trafford in front of 76,004 people.