10 best players who have played under Sir Alex Ferguson

#1 Cristiano Ronaldo

Ronaldo celebrates his goal against Chelsea in the 2008 Champions League final

When a skinny 18-year-old Portuguese winger hung the United defence out to dry during a friendly against Sporting CP, Sir Alex was convinced that he had to sign the lad for the Red Devils.

At that point of time in the summer of 2003, Ronaldo became the most expensive teenager in English football when he signed on for £12.24 million.

Inheriting the prestigious number 7 from Beckham, he was instrumental in the six seasons he spent at the club, gradually developing from a tall, wiry teenager into one of the most fearsome left-wingers in Europe.

He was inducted into the first team squad straight away, with his quick legs, crossing and dead ball abilities quickly turning him into one of the best goalscorers in England.

Recognising his potential, René Meulensteen began personally training him to become more unpredictable and to develop a poacher's instinct in front of goal.

His goal from 40 yards against Arsenal in the Champions League semi-finals epitomised everything that he came to signify during his time at Old Trafford - arrogant, outrageous and sensational.

The 2007/08 season was his personal best in England, as he scored 31 times in the Premier League to pick up the Golden Boot. That particular record is also the most number of goals scored by an individual during a 38 game Premier League season (shared with Alan Shearer), which is particularly impressive considering that Ronaldo was still playing as a winger at that point of time.

He scored 42 goals in all competitions that season, including a first-half goal against Chelsea in the Champions League final, which ended with him lifting his first major continental trophy.

That incredible goalscoring record, along with the Ballon d'Or that accompanied it, signified his eventual ascension to global domination along with Leo Messi.

His final season was not nearly as personally successful as his penultimate one, although 18 league goals is by no means an ordinary achievement. He did, however, help his team seal a third consecutive league title before earning a world record move to Madrid.

While Ronaldo might be known best for his incredible accomplishments in the Spanish capital, it was Sir Alex who had enough faith in him as a teenager to hand him a huge role in his evolving squad at Old Trafford, moulding and shaping him into the player that he is today.