Cristiano Ronaldo almost treated his first spell at Manchester United as an apprenticeship, as he put in the work to become one of football’s greatest players ever.
Ronaldo first joined the Red Devils from Sporting Lisbon in August 2003 as an 18-year-old for a fee in the region of £12.2million, making him the most expensive teenager in the world at the time and was instantly handed the prestigious No.7 shirt.
There was a perception of Ronaldo when he first joined the Premier League that he was an underdeveloped youngster who was still lacking muscle mass.
Former Man United trainer Mick Clegg dismisses Cristiano Ronaldo was scrawny in 2003
But former power development trainer, Mick Clegg, dismissed that Ronaldo was ‘scrawny’ during his first stint at Old Trafford.
The 37-year-old has since gone on to become a global superstar, winning the Balloon d’Or five times, winning multiple league titles and Champions League honours – all while becoming the leading goalscorer in FIFA history.
‘I never saw a scrawny kid,’ Clegg told the Independent. ‘That kid had a fantastic physique, a fantastic ability to move. All he needed was time.
‘People sometimes ask for ‘Cristiano’s routine’, his chest routine or whatever, but what are they talking about? It’s five and a half years. It was five and a half years of the hardest work I’ve ever seen from any athlete ever.
The former trainer insisted that all Ronaldo needed was time as he had a fantastic physique
‘It was never scrawny, what he wanted to do was get the right amount of the strength, the power, the skill, the cognitive processes, and all these things then come together. But it’s also about confidence.’
The Portuguese forward helped United win three Premier League titles, the Champions League, FA Cup and two League Cups before leaving for Real Madrid in a blockbuster £80million transfer in 2009.
Ronaldo went on to enjoy even greater success in Spain and also took in a trophy-laden spell at Juventus before completing his long-awaited return to Old Trafford last summer.
Clegg, who worked through Ronaldo’s entire first spell at United from 2003 to 2009 and one of the most successful spells in United’s history, has offered an insight into how he went from a player perceived as ‘wasteful’ to one who became the most productive in the game.
Ronaldo enjoyed success with Real Madrid and Juventus, but is now back at Old Trafford
‘You can see how it came together for him. Some players practice something and then take it into a game, and if it doesn’t work, they’ll never use it again.
‘Cristiano practices something, then he’ll take it into training games, then take it into a game against teams at the bottom of the league, and he would hone his skills there.
‘He wouldn’t use it in the big games against Chelsea or whoever until he was confident with it. And he never, ever lost confidence he could make whatever he’s working on work.
‘That’s why he got so many people shouting at him. He’s this, he’s that – no. He was working on an apprenticeship. It was about working to get perfection.’
