In the summer of 2003, an 18-year-old Cristiano Ronaldo mentored a young Jesse Lingard at Manchester United – the pair will now be teammates.
After impressing in a pre-season friendly for Sporting CP against the Red Devils, Sir Alex Ferguson made the decision to bring Ronaldo to Old Trafford.
He left the club in 2009 but Friday saw United announce ‘CR7’ would be making a sensational return.
It has seen a video of Ronaldo showing off his tricks to a set of academy graduates re-emerge.
To show off the new signing, United sent the future five-time Ballon d’Or winner to teach a few youngsters his skills.
Among those were a 10-year-old Lingard who looked completely starstruck.
A young Jesse Lingard attempting to beat his man (Credit: MUTV).
Despite being a teenager, Ronaldo spoke with maturity and explained his mindset when on the pitch.
He told the youngsters: “I think it’s just the way I play. Ever since I was a youngster in Madeira, I’ve always been a player that enjoys taking someone on one on one.”
“It’s in my nature and I’ve always done this.”
Discussing his young Portuguese star, Ferguson said: “He speed with the ball on either foot, manipulating it, making decisions in and outside of full-backs, playing in other positions everything done at great speed.”
“I think that was the thing that made me sit up.”
In the video, Ronaldo is shownpracticing a variety of moves such as his trademark step-overs.
The Old Trafford crowd will be desperate to see a few of those when he makes his second debut next month.
Match against the youngsters, in which he gave them a head start. At the time, if you would have said the two would eventually face off against one another then the odds would have been very slim.
But Lingard did line up against Ronaldo when United defeated Juventus 2-1 in the Champions League back in 2018.
The 28-year-old looked likely to be joining West Ham United this summer after a great loan spell in London last season.
He’s likely to stay at United however and will play with Ronaldo at some point.
Do you think Cristiano Ronaldo will be a good signing for United?