Private texts and chats with Sir Alex Ferguson - how Man United dressing room reacted to Cristiano Ronaldo's transfer 'audition'

'Quite good' was how Sir Alex Ferguson described a promising young winger in the minutes before his Manchester United side faced Sporting Lisbon in a pre-season friendly some 20 years ago.

United's trip to Portugal was shoehorned into a Thursday night at the start of August, between a friendly against Barcelona and the Community Shield meeting with Arsenal. They had been in New York the day before and stepped into the Jose Alvalade Stadium with a likely hint of jet lag.

The occasion held far more weight for Sporting, as shown by the 3-1 home scoreline at full-time. But for one young star the friendly was his audition for what would prove one of the most significant transfers in United's history.

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The 'quite good' winger was an 18-year-old with braces, frosted tips and socks down to his ankles. His name was Cristiano Ronaldo and Ferguson urged his players to 'look out for him'.

The Scot had first heard of Ronaldo in 2002, following the arrival of Carlos Queiroz as his assistant. Having previously managed at Sporting, the Portuguese coach was quick to highlight an up-and-coming star from his former club.

By that point, Ronaldo had attracted interest from the likes of Liverpool, Arsenal and Barcelona. United were enjoying an informal alliance with Sporting, with the two sides sharing ideas on scouting and player development at the time.

As part of that agreement, Ferguson's side would head to Lisbon for a pre-season friendly to open the club's new 50,000 capacity stadium. Portuguese fans packed out the ground to see the