Manchester United legend Gary Neville has made an interesting claim about Cristiano Ronaldo's early days at Old Trafford. The Englishman said that the Portuguese often frustrated his teammates before he became a huge force to be reckoned with.
Manchester United completed one of their most important transfers when they lured Cristiano Ronaldo to Old Trafford from Sporting CP in a deal worth £12 million in August 2003.
The attacker reached unprecedented heights at the club, writing his name among the greatest players to ever play the game. However, the start wasn't all rosy for the Portuguese icon.
As pointed out by Gary Neville, Cristiano Ronaldo was initially "scrawny" and "erratic" when he joined the Red Devils.
“When Ronaldo came, he was quite scrawny and had not developed his body. His decision making was erratic, if he should have crossed it, he dribbled, if he should’ve dribbled, he crossed it," the Englishman said on The Overlap.
"He always frustrated the players in the middle, because he’d go to cross it and they’d make the run and then he would turn back. He was all over the place and I actually lost faith with him because he wasn’t delivering in an attacking sense, but he also didn’t run back that much - he wasn’t really helping. Whereas Becks, he was always running back and we were always doubling up - I always had help. It was quite frustrating," he added.
Neville went on to narrate how the Portuguese suddenly raised his game to another level after returning from the 2006 World Cup. Notably, the Portuguese scored the winning penalty against England in the quarter-final shootout and helped eliminate them from the tournament.
"In 2006, he scored (against England) and that’s when he knocked us out of the World Cup in Germany. He came back and all of a sudden his physique and his body had changed and that season, in 2006, when we first won the league again, he had a transformation into this machine, and I think he scored 35-40 goals,” the Englishman further stated.
Cristiano Ronaldo went on to spend six years at Manchester United in his first spell. He returned to the club in 2021 before leaving for Al Nassr unceremoniously in December 2022.
Cristiano Ronaldo's numbers for Manchester United
Across his two spells at Manchester United, Cristiano Ronaldo recorded an impressive 145 goals and 64 assists in 346 appearances across all competitions, including 103 goals and 39 assists in 236 Premier League games.
During his time at the club, he managed to lead the Red Devils to multiple honors, including the Champions League, the Premier League, the FA Cup and EFL Cup among others. He also won several individual awards including the Ballon d'Or, the European Golden Shoe and FIFA Player of the Year to mention a few.
The Portuguese currently represents Saudi Arabian outfit Al Nassr whom he joined as a free agent after leaving Manchester United. He has bagged 36 goals and 12 assists for the Saudi giants in 37 games across all competitions so far this season.
