CRISTIANO RONALDO was not allowed to go home after a match until he had signed for Manchester United, according to Rio Ferdinand.
The duo won three Premier League titles and the Champions League during their six years as team-mates.
Man Utd paid Sporting Lisbon £12million for Ronaldo – just a year after Ferdinand went from Leeds to Old Trafford.
Sir Alex Ferguson’s side had a pre-season friendly against the Portuguese club and CR7 dazzled Red Devils chiefs during the game – when he famously left John O’Shea “needing an oxygen tank”.
So much so, that the legendary boss spoke to him after the game and made sure he chose Man Utd ahead of any other club.
Ferdinand told the BBC: “We were invited to go to play Sporting to open their stadium.
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“We had just missed out on signing Ronaldinho. We were all excited thinking we were getting Ronaldinho, then he went and signed for Barcelona. We were all a bit deflated.
“We were going to play Sporting and you start getting whispers, they’ve got this kid called Ronaldo, meant to be really good.
“I didn’t think anything of it and the game starts. Then we are looking at each other and you’re like, ‘OK, this kid is the real deal’.
“Look at him, he is like doing mad stuff, he is embarrassing a couple of our players.
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“The we were all standing there saying, ‘Oh my God, we’ve got to sign him.’
“On the coach after, waiting everyone’s sitting there going, ‘Been here an hour, waiting, what’s going on? We’ve got to get to the airport.’
“Noise starts travelling back through the coach that David Gill, who was CEO, and the manager are in there.
“They have got Cristiano in a vice-like lock, waiting. He can’t leave the stadium until he signs and agrees to come to United.”
Ronaldo, who celebrates his 40th birthday today, went on to make 346 appearances for the club over two spells, scoring 145 goals.
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Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk