The Birth of a Superstar: A Look at Cristiano Ronaldo's Manchester United Career

Sometimes, when a player as special as Cristiano Ronaldo emerges at a club like Manchester United, history can be a little revisionist. People, keen to prove their football bona fides, might say they knew all along that he was special when there were plenty of doubts.

With Ronaldo, though, it is fair to say almost everyone who saw his debut could immediately see this was a special talent. While there were ebbs and flows as he grew into the Ballon d'Or-winning player he would become before leaving the club, and doubts reared their head along the way, the start was as impressive as most United fans could remember.

In a 2003 interview with writer Justyn Barnes, (h/t Sabotage Times), George Best said,

"

Cristiano Ronaldo’s first United game as a substitute in the season opener against Bolton [Wanderers] was undoubtedly the most exciting debut performance I’ve ever seen.

A few of my old team-mates were at the game and they compared him to me. There have been a few players described as 'the new George Best' over the years, but this is the first time it’s been a compliment to me. There have been players who have some similarities, but this lad’s got more than anyone else, especially as he is genuinely two-footed. He can play on either wing, beat players with ease and put in dangerous crosses with his left or right peg. When was the last time you saw that?

With Ronaldo and Giggsy on the pitch at the same time, opposition defenders will be petrified!

"

By 2008, it was clear that defenders would indeed be petrified with both Ronaldo and Ryan Giggs on the pitch, though Giggs had long since ceased to be a flying winger. Ronaldo had help, but even without it, he would have been enough to terrify most defenders on his own.

Alex Livesey/Getty Images

There were those who publicly doubted Ronaldo's ability during his developing years. In his 2007 book This is the One: Sir Alex Ferguson: The Uncut Story of a Football Genius, Daniel Taylor shares a quote from former United 'keeper Peter Schmeichel. After a 0-0 draw with Burton Albion in the FA Cup third round in 2006, the Great Dane said:

"

From where I'm looking the players seem interested only in cars and who has the biggest diamond. The team lacks personality. They had that in Roy Keane but the only one with that kind of personality now is Wayne Rooney. I'm thinking about players who could take the club forward. Ronaldo? No chance.

"

Rarely can a pundit have got something more wrong. Ronaldo, one of the most driven and professional footballers of his generation, not only helped take the club forward but was a key component of why Sir Alex Ferguson's United were briefly contenders for the title of best club side in the world.

He may well have a love for the material and cosmetic comforts associated with the kind of wealth an elite athlete can acquire, but if anyone knows the hard work has to come first, it is Ronaldo.

The Portuguese superstar's time at United had a pretty straightforward upward trajectory. He scored six goals in his first season, nine in his second and 12 in his third. In those days, his end product was often questioned. Given he has become the most end-product focused player of his generation, perhaps he took some of that criticism to heart.

What came next was the burgeoning of his latent brilliance. In the 2006/07 season, the end of a three-season-long Premier League title drought for Sir Alex and United, he scored 17 times in the league and 23 in all competitions. Ronaldo demanded to be taken seriously.

He scored in the opening-day 5-1 hammering of Fulham at Old Trafford but had only managed five by the time December arrived. Christmas clearly inspired him, as he had more than doubled his tally by the end of the year. A run of six goals in five games marked his first purple patch at the club.

At the time, that kind of run still felt unusual in his career. Since then, it has been the norm.

FRANCK FIFE/Getty Images

In the 17 games played from the turn of the year to the end of the season, Ronaldo scored five more goals as United held off competition from Chelsea and won the title.

What followed was United's finest hour since 1999. Before '99, Ferguson knew there would always be questions about his career were he not to win the Champions League. Before 2008, he knew there would be questions if he did not win it again. But he did, and Ronaldo was a huge part of why.

This was when it became clear that Best was speaking without hyperbole when he said the comparisons might flatter him. Which of the two was the superior player at their best is open to debate, but Ronaldo has stayed at the top much longer than off-the-pitch issues allowed Best to.

Sergey Ponomarev/Associated Press

And his time at the top began in 2007/08. He scored 42 goals in all competitions as United won the league and the Champions League. Thirty-one of Ronaldo's goals came in the league. Eight were scored in Europe, including United's only goal in the final.

The stepovers were less frequent. He was much less Best-like, but in their stead came a remarkable physicality and directness. He had developed an assassin's eye for the target, steely focus and, as he showed in the Champions League final, an aerial ability few anywhere in the world could match.

He had reinvented the taking of a direct free-kick as Ferguson reinvented what a front three could be. Ronaldo, Rooney and Carlos Tevez interchanged positions at will, becoming a fluid and deadly combination. Tevez finished the season on 19 goals. Rooney had 18.

JON SUPER/Associated Press

Ronaldo and Lionel Messi have made a 42-goal season look normal over the past decade or so, but in 2008, it felt like a gigantic number. The season prior Ronaldo and Rooney had scored 23 each in all competitions to share United's top-scorer status.

The spectacularly prolific Ruud van Nistelrooy had hit 44 in all competitions in 2002/03, the only player other than Ronaldo to hit the 40-goals-in-a-season mark during the Ferguson era. No one had ever doubted his end product, though. Seeing Ronaldo prove his detractors wrong was like the fulfilment of a beautiful dream.

The player everyone who saw the Bolton game thought he could become was here—and more besides.

By the end of that season, sadly, it was clear the dream was going to be short-lived. That Ronaldo is still so beloved at United is testament to how incredible he became on the pitch and how much joy he brought supporters because his departure was a little messy.

He stayed for one more season, but that summer, he publicly agreed with then-FIFA president Sepp Blatter's comments suggesting United should let Ronaldo leave for Real Madrid, claiming there was "too much modern slavery" in football, per Taylor for the Guardian.

Ronaldo said: "I agree with what [Blatter] said. It's true. I agree with what the president of FIFA said. I know what I want and what I would like. We have to see what happens. I do not know where I will begin next season."

In the end, he stayed at United for another season. There were some injury troubles, but he still finished as the club's top scorer, albeit on a more human-looking 26 goals. The player added another Premier League title to his haul, and there was another trip to the Champions League final, though this one was unsuccessful.

The strains of Viva Ronaldo still ring out from the Stretford End and will for a long time to come. He left under a cloud, but what he did when he was at Old Trafford was remarkable. United fans will always think of him as one of their own, even while he is clearly happy plying his trade in Madrid.

He was the complete package by the time Madrid got their hands on him. He has been amazingly productive for them, and he has won plenty of trophies there, including two more precious Champions League titles.

But it is hard not to think that is a little less romantic than seeing the journey he took from a skinny, talented kid to a superstar. United fans had that privilege, and it is one they will long remember.

Goals and appearance data per the Website of Dreams.