Roy Keane Says He Knew Cristiano Ronaldo Would Be World Class Straight Away

Roy Keane seems to be aiming fire at everybody in his new autobiography, but one player who he has nothing but good things to say about is Cristiano Ronaldo. 

Keane was at Manchester United when the club signed Ronaldo and said that he could see the then teenager's ability straight away. 

He wrote in his new book, The Second Half: 

"

I liked Ronaldo straight away. He had a nice presence about him and a good attitude.

After watching him train for a few days I thought: 'This lad is going to be one of the best players in the world.'

He was seventeen, but he was immediately one of the hardest working players at United.

He was good looking and he knew it. Looking at some of the other players in front of the mirror I would think: ‘You f------ nugget’.

But Ronaldo had an innocence to him and a niceness.

"

Keane also explained how Ronaldo earned his deal with United, by putting on a dizzying display for Sporting Lisbon against them in a pre-season friendly—literally.

"

We were playing Sporting Lisbon to celebrate the opening of their stadium. I saw how good Ronaldo was that day.

He was up against John O’Shea. Sheasy ended up seeing the doctor at half time because he was actually having dizzy spells.

The club concluded negotiations after the game and we always joked with Sheasy he had actually sealed the deal by playing like a f------ clown.

In fairness to him, he was jet-lagged [from America] like the rest of us.

"

Ronaldo scored 118 goals in 292 games over a six-year spell at Manchester United, before joining Real Madrid for a then world record fee of £80 million.

[H/T The Daily Telegraph]