Cristiano Ronaldo was officially unveiled as a Real Madrid player at Estadio Santiago Bernab?u on Monday evening. The former Manchester United player was greeted by an enormous crowd of fans.
Ronaldo moved to Real Madrid in a world record ?80m deal. He said that, to play for the Spanish giants was his “childhood dream”. Ronaldo was welcomed by 80,000 fans in the club’s stadium which is the largest gathering. Before him, 75,000 fan gathered when Diego Maradona signed for Napoli from Barcelona in 1984.
Ronaldo will wear the number nine shirt and he registered the CR9 trademark at the start of the year. Florentino Perez after his return to Madrid signed four key player. He signed Kaka from AC Milan and Lyon striker Karim Benzema. He also bring Raul Albiol to the club.
The reigning FIFA player of the year said,
“I am just so happy to be here,”
he told the supporters inside the ground.
“For me, I have made my childhood dream a reality, which was nothing less than playing for Real Madrid.”
He also said,
“I didn’t expect a jam-packed stadium – this is truly impressive.”
At the press conference after his presentation, Ronaldo said that it was hard to leave England but he admits that Real is the closest club to his heart.
About his old club Manchester United he said,
“Thank you to all (United) supporters, the boss (Sir Alex Ferguson), friends and team-mates – I’ve been there six years and have friends there. But people respect my decision,”
He said,
“The great challenge now, and dream, is to play at Real Madrid but I’m going to miss many things in Manchester.”
About Sir Alex Ferguson, he said,
“My relationship with him [Sir Alex Ferguson] was always good and will stay that way forever. I went to Manchester, spoke to them and everything was fine. Life goes on.”
On his big money move, he said,
“I understand…it is not your everyday thing to manage these figures, but I’m happy to be the most expensive player in the history of football and I’m going to prove that they paid good money for me and it was worth it.”
“We are very satisfied to know that you made the firm decision to play for Real Madrid. They [the fans] will ask of you the very best, but will also give you their all.”
said Real president Florentino Perez.
Cristiano Ronaldo
Cristiano Ronaldo
Cristiano Ronaldo
Cristiano Ronaldo
