On this day in 2009, a long-awaited transfer speculation reached its conclusion as Manchester United finally accepted Real Madrid’s £80 million (€94 million) offer for the then 24-year-old sensation, Cristiano Ronaldo.
Cristiano Ronaldo, who won the grandest individual prize in Ballon d’Or in 2008, was a constant target for Real Madrid for a long time, however, Manchester United were reluctant to let him go. Madrid’s pursuit of the winger was so intense that Manchester United officially launched a complaint against the Galacticos in June 2008, accusing the Spanish outfit of the alleged pursuit of their player. This led to a new term being formed “modern slavery” as the then FIFA president Sepp Blatter stated that a player should be allowed to leave his club.
Eventually in 2009, after winning three consecutive Premier League crown and a UEFA Champions League medal, Ronaldo made his move to Real Madrid. Ronaldo’s to Real coincided with the return of Florentino Pérez – under whom the first wave of the ‘Galactico’ arrived at Santiago Bernabeu – as club president. In the same year, Real Madrid signed Kaka from AC Milan for £56m. And with Ronaldo arriving at a whopping price of £80 million, he became the then most expensive player in the history of the sport.
Ronaldo was presented in front of the fans a month later and the Portuguese shattered yet another record. Near to 80,000 spectators turned up to see him live and in the process, he broke a long 25-year record of 75,000 fans who welcomed Diego Maradona at Napoli back in 1984.
Since moving to Madrid, Ronaldo has not only been a prolific scorer, but has established himself as one of the best players to have ever graced a footballing field. In just 265 appearances, he has bagged 285 goals and is the club’s highest goal scorer. Shattering a number of records in the process, Ronaldo has won two La Liga titles with Real Madrid so far and yes, not to forget three UEFA Champions League crown.
Credit All football
