Early Years
As a child, Cristiano Ronaldo showed incredible talent for soccer. When he was just 12 years old, he attended a three-day trial with Sporting CP and he ended up getting signed for a fee of £1,500 (over $2,000).
By 14, Ronaldo believed that he could play semi-professionally and he decided to leave school and focus completely on soccer.
It wasn’t long before Ronaldo started getting noticed by his future soccer club Sporting CP.
Getting Noticed
At just 16, Ronaldo impressed Sporting CP’s first-team manager László Bölöni with his dribbling and he was promoted from Sporting’s youth team, before making his debut on Primeira Liga just a year later on September 29, 2002.
Over the 2002-2003 season, Ronaldo impressed many teams and they were interested in signing him. But Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson was determined to acquire the young player.
Cristiano Ronaldo was about to have his big break and he was going to make soccer history.