Manchester’s first Portuguese player, Cristiano Ronaldo has been making history since his teenage years. However, every great player needs a great team.
Who exactly were Ronaldo’s teammates and where are they now?
TeamKenya.co.ke has compiled a list of football players that played side by side with Ronaldo during his Man U debut.
Tim Howard
Former American international goalkeeper joined Man U in 2003 and stayed with the club for three seasons before he was loaned out to Everton in the final year of his contract.
He then spent the next nine years playing for Toffees before hanging his gloves in 2019. In 2020, Howard became a sporting director and minority owner of the US second division side Memphis 901 FC.
Rio Ferdinand- CB
Ferdinard is no doubt one of the greatest defenders to ever play professional football, having won a champion league and six league titles for United in his 455 appearances for the club.
He joined Man U in 2002, just a year before Cristiano and played for the club for 12 years before joining Queens Park Rangers for a year. He retired from professional football in 2015. Ferdinand currently works as a tv pundit for BT Sport.
Mikael Silvestre -CB
Silvestre joined Man U in 1999 from Inter Milan and stayed with the club for 9 seasons. The French defender then played for Arsenal, Werder Bremen, Portland Timbers and retired in 2014.
After his retirement, he worked as the director of football at Ligue 1 club Rennes till 2016. He is currently the director of Football with sports Invest UK. Silvestre also runs a distillery business named Rhum St Barth.
Quinton Fortune - LB.
Fortune joined Manchester United in 1999 before leaving the club in 2006. He went on to play for clubs like Bolton Wanderers and Atletico Madrid. He retired from professional football in 2010.
He then took up the role of assistant coach at Cardiff City U21 in 2014 before returning to Manchester United as an assistant coach of the club’s U23 side. The defender is currently Reading FC as their first-team coach.
Roy Keane -DM
Man U legend and former captain joined the united in 1993 and played for the club till 2005 when he switched sides for Celtic for a season before retiring from professional football.
He took up managerial roles and managed various clubs from 2006 to 2019, that include, Sunderland, Ipswich Town, the Republic of Ireland national team and Nottingham Forest. He currently takes up TV pundit roles
Nicky Butt- CM
Butt played for Man U for 12 years before leaving for the club for Newcastle United in 2004. He retired in 2011. After his retirement, he returned to Man United as their first-team coach and held that position till 2021.
Paul Scholes- CM
Paul played for Man U his entire professional life before his retirement in 2013. In 2015, he became a caretaker manager of Salford City. He joined PVF Football Academy as a technical advisor in 2017. He joined Salford as the interim manager till November 2020.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer-RW
Solksjaer joined Man U in 1996 and played for the team for 11 seasons before retiring in 2007. After his retirement, Solskjaer remained with Man U but as a manager.
He then ventured out to manage Molde for three seasons before managing Cardiff City in 2014. In 2018, he returned to Manchester United as a manager, a position he has since left.
Ryan Giggs
Giggs played for one team his entire professional life, having played for Man U for 24 years before retiring. Immediately after his retirement, he became an assistant manager under Louis Van Gaal for two seasons.
Giggs was then hired as the manager of the Wales national team before resigning due to personal reasons in 2021.
Ruud Van Nisterlrooy-St
The legendary Dutch player joined the Red Devils in 2001. He played for Man U for five seasons before joining Real Madrid in 2006. He played at Hamburg and Malaga before retiring in 2012. He held the coach for various clubs that include Netherlands national team and PSV U19.
He was spotted at the Euro 2020 Dutch bench as Frank de Boer’s assistant.
Eric Djemba-Djemba-Sub
The Cameroonian midfielder joined Man U in 2003 and stayed with the club for two seasons. Djemba went on to play at Aston Villa and Qatar Sc. He retired from football in 2016.
Diego Forlan- Sub
Forlan played for Man U for only 2 seasons from 2002 to 2004. He, later on, went to play for Villarreal and Atletico Madrid and Hong Kong‘s Kitchee SC. He took charge of Club Atletico Atenas in 2021 as their manager.
Phil Neville-RB
Neville played for Man U from 1994 to 2005. He spent the next 8 seasons playing for Everton before retiring from professional football in 2013. He worked as an assistant manager with the England U21 side and Valencia. In 2018 he became the head coach of the England Women’s national team. He, later on, left that position to join the MLS side Inter Miami as their new manager.