On this day in 2009: Man Utd accept world-record £80m bid for Cristiano Ronaldo

Manchester United announced they had accepted Real Madrid’s world-record £80million bid for Cristiano Ronaldo, on this day in 2009.

Real also confirmed a deal had been struck with United for Ronaldo, who at 24 was already established as one of the world’s best players and who the Spanish giants had been courting for over two years.

A statement on United’s official website said: “Manchester United have received a world-record, unconditional offer of £80million for Cristiano Ronaldo from Real Madrid.

“At Cristiano’s request – who has again expressed his desire to leave – and after discussion with the player’s representatives, United have agreed to give Real Madrid permission to talk to the player.

“Matters are expected to be concluded by 30 June. The club will not comment until further notice.”

Since joining the Old Trafford outfit from Sporting Lisbon in 2003, Ronaldo had scored 118 goals in 292 appearances for the Premier League club and helped them win a glut of silverware.

That included three successive Premier League titles from 2006-07 and the Champions League in 2008. Sir Alex Ferguson’s men had also just finished as runners-up in the European competition, losing 2-0 to Barcelona in what would prove Ronaldo’s final game with them.

The Portugal forward was the reigning FIFA World Player of the Year.

Ronaldo completed his move to the Bernabeu in the weeks that followed and went on to become Real Madrid’s all-time top-scorer, netting an incredible 451 goals in 438 games.

He won the Champions League four more times and was also named the world’s best player by FIFA another four times before departing for Juventus in 2018.

In August 2021, United confirmed they had reached an agreement to re-sign Ronaldo, then aged 36, for a £12.8m fee and he embarked on his second spell at Old Trafford.