In the summer of 2003, 18-year-old Cristiano Ronaldo transferred from Sporting Lisbon to Old Trafford to replace David Beckham, who had joined Real Madrid.
At Old Trafford, Ronaldo won every club trophy he could throughout the following six years as he developed into the best player in the world.
Real Madrid acquired the Portuguese international in 2009 for a then-record transfer fee of £80 million, where he went on to solidify his illustrious reputation as one of the greatest players to ever step foot on a football ground.
Later, in 2019, Cristiano Ronaldo transferred to Juventus before returning to Old Trafford for a second stint with United in the summer of 2021.
His stint with Erik ten Hag’s team, however, came to an end under a cloud last year following an angry interview with Piers Morgan in which he attacked numerous parts of the Old Trafford club. This caused him to leave and later switch to play for Al Nassr in Saudi Arabia.
But if history had taken a different turn, things might have turned out quite differently since Ronaldo did consider giving up football when he was a young player in the Sporting academy.
According to The Sun, Cristiano Ronaldo was considering calling off his career before it ever got off the ground, during his time as a Sporting academy player.
The report also said that Ronaldo cried every day because he missed his family and friends and was teased by the other boys for having a Madeiran accent.
Ronaldo frequently lacked emotional control when he was younger, which led to him getting into numerous fights with other boys.
Cristiano Ronaldo eventually received permission to drop out of school and concentrate on football. Later, he received a reward when he was promoted to Sporting’s first team, and the rest is, as they say, history.
