'I was there when Man Utd signed Cristiano Ronaldo – this is how it really happened'
A former Manchester United masseuse has revealed exactly how the club got a deal done for Cristiano Ronaldo back in 2003 – and it was in a rather unusual place.
Former United employee Rod Thornley has discussed how Sir Alex Ferguson actually wanted to sign Ronaldo during half-time of their famous pre-season game with Sporting.
It was previously believed that the torrid time John O'Shea - the then-United defender - had up against the fresh-faced wonderkid was a big part of the reason as to why Ronaldo ended up signing for the club.
Former United centre-half Rio Ferdinand told Copa's YouTube channel in 2020 that O'Shea needed an "oxygen tank" after playing against the 18-year-old star.
However, United masseuse Thornley has claimed that the Portuguese wonderkid's playing style alone was enough for Sir Alex to dish a deal out in the changing rooms there and then after just 45 minutes.
Speaking on Reach's new Euro Thrash podcast - which you can find in YouTube, Apple and Spotify - Thornley said: "We were on pre-season tour in 2003. We got out to America, flew back, and on the way back we stopped at Lisbon and we did the first game at Sporting Lisbon's new ground, and at the time they had Cristiano who’d just broke into the team and so had Ricardo Quaresma.
Former Manchester United defender Wes Brown is on our Euro Thrash podcast
"We’d heard about them and I remember speaking to Sir Alex on the plane about these two, because I'd watched them in the Under-18/19s Euros that summer, and Sir Alex was like, ‘we've got our eye on them anyway’."
Ronaldo really impressed the hierarchy of Manchester United during the game, and Sir Alex was so dazzled that he tried to sign the young Portuguese wonderkid at half-time.
Thornley continued: "We've played the game and he was brilliant. He was absolutely outstanding. So half time’s come – the players’ dressing room is one side of a corridor and the management and the medical staff’s on the other side, it's like partitioned off.
"We've sorted the players out, they’re on their way out to the second half, and we come to just get ourselves changed to go out for the second half. Sir Alex is in there with David Gill, and a representative from Sporting Lisbon, and whether it was the agent, I don't know, and they’re discussing, ‘we want to take him now, we want him tonight’."
Cristiano Ronaldo of Manchester United celebrates scoring their first goal during the Barclays FA Premier League match between Manchester United and Newcastle United at Old Trafford on January 12 2008 in Manchester, England.
The former masseuse claimed that the deal more or less happened "there and then that night" as the United manager was so eager to not miss out, with Liverpool having been lurking at the time too.
He explained: "We went out for the second half, came back and same thing happened again. Players all got started, back onto the bus, and this carried on in the dressing room while we're locked in our own little medical staff dressing room, waiting to see what was discussed. We couldn't listen entirely to what was being said, but it happened there and then that night. He really wanted to take him that night.
"Most games, home or away, David Gill, chief executive, Ed Woodward, whoever, would always come out the dressing room at full time no matter what.
"But this game, because it was pre-season, because it wasn't like an official Premier League game, I think Sir Alex might have rang and said, ‘listen, come down and speak to them, we need to get this kid signed now’. I don't know exactly how it happened, but they were definitely in there together."
This signing proved to be a shining light for the club as Ronaldo joined the club in the summer of 2003 for a £16million fee and spent six seasons winning trophy after trophy. He won three Premier League titles, one Champions League, one Community Shield, two League cups and one FA Cup with United.
He then returned to the club in 2021 after time at Real Madrid in a £14m transfer from Juventus and spent a year at United under Erik ten Hag.
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