JOIN USCristiano Ronaldo at Manchester United: A nightmare exit from the Theatre of Dreams
On a hot night in August 2003, a seasoned Manchester United squad took to the field against Sporting Lisbon in a pre-season friendly.
Used to winning ways, United were expected to make a meal of the game, with manager Sir Alex Ferguson only briefly warning the team of a "talented young winger" they would be facing.
Over the course of the next 90 minutes, however, this "talented young winger" would run United ragged, and what was expected to be a routine pre-season encounter would change the course of footballing history.
Humbled by the then 18-year-old, the bewildered and distraught United squad approached Sir Alex to sign Cristiano Ronaldo immediately.
Ferguson, however, needed no convincing: well aware of Ronaldo's promise since 2012, the Scotsman was determined to seal the deal before getting on the flight back to Manchester, and he did just that, shelling out a whopping £12.24 million, a British record fee for a teenager at the time.
A few days later, Ronaldo, with his family, flew to Manchester to complete the deal, marking the start of a journey that would see him become one of the most fearsome forwards football had ever seen.
The making of CR7
Days after signing for United, Ronaldo made his debut for the Red Devils, coming on in the 61st minute against Bolton Wanderers. While he himself did not score, Ronaldo's trickery caused all sorts of problems for the Wanderers, who succumbed to a 4-0 defeat on the opening day of the season. That season, Ronaldo would bag eight goals in 39 appearances for United and would go on to be named Sir Matt Busby Player of the Year.
But that was just the start.
In the 2004/05 season, Ronaldo would build on his solid start to life at Manchester United, scoring nine goals in 50 appearances.
By the time the 2005/06 season came around, United fans were certain that the teenager was shaping up to be an exciting player, but none perhaps foresaw what he was to become.
The 2006 World Cup in Germany proved to be a defining moment in the young Portuguese forward's career, especially for his role in Wayne Rooney's red card in the quarter-finals.
Contrary to expectations, however, the relationship between Ronaldo and Rooney, far from becoming fraught, blossomed into an insanely productive one for United and the duo shone in United's title success in the 2006/07 season. While the title win, undoubtedly, was a team effort, Ronaldo's performances earned him accolades and attracted the attention of some of European football's behemoths, including Real Madrid.
The next season, 2007/08, Ronaldo would only build on his fine form and would notch a whopping 31 goals in the Premier League, a record that he would jointly hold with Luis Suarez for a decade before Mohamed Salah's 32-goal season with Liverpool in 2017/18.
To top off his personal achievements in 2007/08, Ronaldo would also help United to yet another domestic title and to Champions League glory.
Fresh off his successes at the club level, Ronaldo headed into the 2008 Euros with speculation building about his future. However, the Portuguese would return to United after the tournament and would score his 100th goal for the club that November.
Rounding off a magical 2008, the Portuguese would also become the first United player since George Best in 1968 to be awarded the Ballon d'Or, an accolade that he would eventually make a habit of winning.
While Ronaldo's 2008/09 season for United wasn't his best, the Portuguese forward still managed to score 26 goals in 53 appearances for the Premier League side.
Having already cemented his growing legend, Ronaldo would help United win a third Premier League title in a row before making a record move to Real Madrid, where he would go on to score a mind-boggling 450 goals in 438 appearances over a nine-year spell.
The undoing of CR7
Having pursued glory across leagues and having scripted uncountable records, Ronaldo returned to a struggling United in the 2021/22 season, presumably in a bid to help his boyhood club reclaim a spot among football's elite.
To be fair to Ronaldo, he got off to a good start too in his second spell, scoring 24 times in 38 appearances and finishing third in the list of top scorers that season, but his second spell, unlike his first, would be far from a fairy tale.
While United's renaissance continued and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was replaced by Erik ten Hag, the talismanic Portuguese forward found himself falling out of favour, as age caught up to him.
No longer capable of matching the speed and ferocity of his youth, Ronaldo, this season, found himself mostly on the bench as United looked to revamp its squad into a youthful, high-press side.
With relations fraught between Ronaldo and his new manager, the 37-year-old, perhaps in the heat of the moment, resorted to taking his reservations to the media in an explosive interview with Piers Morgan, one where he would make damning public accusations against Manchester United and even reveal some less-than-likeable traits about himself.
Unsurprisingly, it was the interview that sealed Ronaldo's fate, and the 37-year-old now finds himself at a crossroads, with his contract having been terminated.
A new dawn?
Ronaldo, for all his prowess on the field, earned himself a bad rep by approaching the media, something that is likely to haunt him should he decide to continue playing at the club level.
What is unclear, however, is where he may head next: surely, given his age, his erratic form, and his astronomical wage demands, there cannot be too many takers.
That being said, the lack of playing prospects, while slim at the moment, could change at any time, contingent on Ronaldo's performances in the FIFA World Cup.
While the Portuguese legend has told the media that he is willing to retire if he wins the World Cup, that remains a distant possibility at the moment.
Yet, an electric performance in the World Cup, regardless of where Portugal finishes in the competition, could be the push that Ronaldo needs to reignite his dying club career and usher in a new dawn.
Will he? Only time will tell.