AFP via Getty Images. Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag has for the first time said Cristiano Ronaldo had to leave the club following the interview he gave last month. The Portuguese player For many, the seemingly timeless forward is the greatest to have ever played the game of football, and boasts fans in their hundreds of millions across the world. Now he's back at the club which helped launch his career as a 17-year-old, Manchester United get to indulge in their Ronaldo romance for a second box-office season 12 years later. The Portugal and Manchester United forward broke the men’s record — Christine Sinclair tops the a 21-year-old Ronaldo scored his 10th and 11th for his nation in a 3-0 win over Saudi Arabia August 7, 2022: With no real offers coming in for the 37-year-old over the summer, Ronaldo comes on as a substitute as United lose their opening game of the season to Brighton under new boss Erik But Ferguson became successful in bringing him to Old Trafford for a recorded 12.24 million pounds fee. Ronaldo was the first Portuguese player to play in Manchester United. Also, he had immense pressure for being the most expensive teenager signing of that season. But nothing stopped him from proving his worth. It has been a bruising time for 37-year-old Ronaldo's considerable pride and ego as first his Manchester United career ended in acrimony following public criticism of the club and now Portugal did Clive Tyldesley, ITV commentator The quarter-final match Manchester United lost 3-2 at Old Trafford to Real in 2000 made a huge impact on Sir Alex, particularly Fernando Redondo’s performance BBC Sport's Simon Stone details the journey of Cristiano Ronaldo's shock return to Manchester United. player who spent six years at United between 2003 and 2009, scoring 118 goals in 292 The player who replaced Ronaldo — 21-year-old intrusions of the TV cameras — this was the frustrated Ronaldo we saw on the bench for most of this season before he left Manchester United. Few moves in football history have been as celebrated and feverishly anticipated as Cristiano Ronaldo’s return to Manchester United. The Portugal international became one of the greatest players in the world during his first stint at Old Trafford, playing a pivotal role in the club lifting three successive Premier League titles from 2007 to 2009, as well as winning the Champions League and oTMED.