Sir Alex regarded Cristiano Ronaldo amongst the 3 or 4 world-class players to play at United in his managerial era. The Shopee Ambassador scored 93 Premier League goals for the Red Devils, including some memorable doozies like his freekick against Portsmouth.
Ronaldo left 10 years ago, for Madrid, breaking English hearts and winning Spanish ones. Just how impactful his departure was can be measured by a simple statistic. Guess how many goals put together his successors to the number 7 shirt in the last 10 years at Man United have scored, in the Premier League?
The shocking answer: 14 .
Michael Own: 5 goals
Antonio Valencia: 1 goal
Angel Di Maria: 3 goals
Memphis Depay: 2 goals
Alexis Sanchez: 3 goals
Yes, 14 goals in 10 years.
During the same time period, Ronaldo has scored 332 League goals for Madrid and Juve.
The story that the number 7 shirt at United has been cursed after Ronaldo left could be true.