Roy Keane's 'world greatest' Cristiano Ronaldo prediction came true

Ronaldo is celebrating his 40th birthday on 5 February, having established himself as one of the greatest footballers of all time over an extraordinary career - which is still going.

He was just a spotty 17-year-old when he signed for the Red Devils way back in 2003.

At the time, iconic hardman Keane was captain, and rather than seeing a flashy youngster like many others, he was astounded by Ronaldo's tireless dedication.

Despite the Irishman's famously disapproving way, he saw a young player burning with a desire to scale the summit of the professional game.

And, for once, Keane didn't have a bad word to say - even breaking character to compliment Ronaldo on his physical appearance.

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Writing in his autobiography, The Second Half, Keane said: "I liked the lad straightaway. He had a nice presence about him and a good attitude.

"What impressed me most was that he'd been given the option of staying in Lisbon for another year, on loan, but he said no; he'd come over to Manchester straightaway.

"I thought it was a good, brave decision because he was only seventeen.

"After the first few days, watching him train, my reaction was, 'This lad is going to be one of the world's greatest players.'

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"I didn't say it publicly, because I'd always be wary of building a player up too early or knocking him down.

"He looked like a player. You have to look the part, and he did.

"Zinedine Zidane looked like a player, and Ronaldo looked like a player. The shape, the body language they were there. A bit of arrogance, too.

"But he'd a nice way about him; he was very likeable. We forget that he was very heavily criticised when he first came on the scene.

"He was going down too quickly when tackled, his final product wasn't good enough. But - again - he was only seventeen, a kid. I was playing youth football for Rockmount, in Cork, at that age.

"He was amazing. He was immediately one of the hardest-working players at United. Most of the players I knew worked hard, but Ronaldo had the talent on top of the work rate.

"He was good looking and he knew it. He was vain in that sense - at the mirror. He was a big lad, a big unit.

"I'd think, 'Good on yeh.' Looking at some of the other lads in front of the mirror, I'd think, 'Yeh f***in' nugget.'

"But Ronaldo had an innocence to him and a niceness. I don't think he ever slacked off, or that he was ever more worried about the mirror than his game. I always felt that football was his love."

Taking his football talent and looks with him, Ronaldo progressed into the icon we all know today, and Keane's prediction was exactly right.

The forward's career began at Sporting in his native Portugal and was promoted to the first team aged just 17.

Ronaldo instantly attracted the attention of Sir Alex Ferguson, United manager at the time, after Sporting beat them at the inauguration of the Estadio Jose Alvalade on 6 August 2003 during a pre-season friendly.

After the game, Ferguson said Ronaldo was 'one of the most exciting young players' he had ever seen, and the rest was history.

Ferguson wasted no time and Ronaldo signed for the Red Devils a week later for £12m, an English record for a teenager at the time.

Ronaldo scored his first goal for United with a free-kick in a 3-0 win over Portsmouth on 1 November.

He ended his first season in English football with a trophy, scoring the opening goal in United's 3-0 win over Millwall in the 2004 FA Cup Final.

Watch Cristiano Ronaldo reach impressive Al Nassr milestone during win over Al-Khaleej

From that moment, he built a legacy at the Theatre of Dreams, which included three Premier League titles, one FA Cup, and that elusive Champions League trophy, culminating in the pinnacle of individual acclaim with the Ballon d'Or in 2008.

In 2009, Real Madrid broke the world transfer record when they signed him for £80m.

His time in Madrid was a period of unparalleled dominance.

He led Real to two La Liga titles, two Copa del Rey trophies, and a phenomenal three consecutive Champions League triumphs. He also took home four more Ballon d'Or awards.

After nine years in Madrid, Ronaldo moved to Juventus in 2018, where he won two Serie A titles and the Coppa Italia.

In 2021, he made his infamous return to Old Trafford, which didn't go as smoothly as the first time around.

His relationship with the club was damaged when he gave a highly publicised interview with Piers Morgan where he criticised manager Erik ten Hag.

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Now at Saudi club Al Nassr, he is closing in on 1000 career goals and despite being 40, Ronaldo doesn't look to be hanging up his boots anytime soon.

He continues to show age is truly just a number.