PageBio

From Cristiano Ronaldo fansite.

Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro was born on the 5th February 1985, on the small island of Madeira, an autonomous region of Portugal. Named after Ronald Reagan, due to his father's respect for the man, few would have guessed that this child would become a world class footballer and earn tens of millions every year, especially with Madeira mainly being used for farmland. He has one brother and two sisters, and family is an important part of his life.

It was on the dusty back-streets of this small island that Ronaldo learnt his first few tricks, and it was also on this Island that he was first scouted. By the age of twelve, Ronaldo had established himself as the best player on the Island, able to use his ball skills and pace to get past full-grown defenders for Andorinha.

Having been recognised as a serious talent, all that was left was for the big Portuguese clubs to scrap it out for his signature. Though Porto and Boavista came in for him, he could only ever play for Sporting the club he supported as a boy.

After quickly progressing from the Lisbon youth academy to the senior team, Ronaldo was beginning to attract attention from the top clubs around Europe. An impressive display in a friendly game vs Manchester United changed his career forever. After the game, Sir Alex Ferguson acted quickly to secure his signature.

The Red Devils paid £12.7 million to sign Ronaldo, making him the most expensive teenager in English football history, at the time. Despite a slow start to his career in Manchester, Cristiano soon became a club legend over a six-year span, scoring 84 goals in 196 appearances.

In 2009, Ronaldo joined Spanish giants Real Madrid for a mouthwatering £80 million.He was formally introduced to Real Madrid at the Bernabeu stadium, with a world record 75,000 fans turning up to hear and see their newest star.

During his time in Madrid, he converted from a winger to a striker, scoring 292 goals in 311 games. An average of a goal every game more than justified his expensive price tag.

In 2018, Juventus shocked the footballing world when they spent €100 million to sign the superstar. Eyes were raised at the transfer sum as Ronaldo by now was 33 years old. Despite his age, Cristiano has continued to play at the peak of his powers and remains a key player for Juventus.