The End of a Silver-Coated Era

It's finally over. More than 12 months of speculation have come to an end with Manchester United accepting an enormous sum of £80 million for Cristiano Ronaldo. This signing follows the recent acquisition of Kaka from AC Milan to Real Madrid and SkySports Spanish correspondent, Guillem Balague, believes that they are not finished yet and David Villa is next on their shopping list.

The United number 7 has had a long career at the club, arriving from Sporting Lisbon in August 2003 for a fee of approximately £12.24 million. His time at Man United hasn't always been filled with goals-galore and Ballon d'Or awards, in his first season he recorded 6 goals from his 40 appearances, and it wasn't until the 2005/06 season that he reached double figures. The end of that season saw the World Cup in which Portugal knocked-out England and the Portuguese winger seemed to have fell out with Wayne Rooney. This sparked rumours that Ronaldo would not return to Manchester, out of fear that he would be greeted with hostility. Despite the speculation, Cristiano returned to a warm welcome at the club and all thoughts of Wayne Rooney not being happy in the same team as Ronaldo were threw out of the window as the two formed a fantastic partnership which saw the United number 7 score 23 goals which contributed to the club's triumph in the league.

The best was still to come for Cristiano as the following season saw him named as Portugal's captain and his club winning the league and the Champions League double, with him scoring an outstanding 42 goals in 49 games. This brilliant achievement earned Ronaldo the Ballon d'Or, making him one of the few players in Manchester United's history to achieve this great award.

Cristiano Ronaldo is truly one of the greats in the history of the club, and his contributions over the years will not be forgotten. No man is irreplaceable, and no one is bigger than the club, however this is one man that will cause difficulty when searching for his replacement. Here is a tribute to one of the best players in the Premier League's history.....



Now the United fans must bid farewell to their Portuguese prince. However, as many fans will tell you, exciting times are ahead.