“Ronaldo opened up English football for Portuguese players” – 24-year-old defender explains Cristiano Ronaldo influence on career

Hull City left-back Ruben Vinagre recently credited Cristiano Ronaldo's impact in the Premier League for playing a pivotal role in his career.

Vinagre was just a four-year-old toddler when an 18-year-old Cristiano Ronaldo decided to join Manchester United from Sporting CP back in 2003. The Portugal superstar established himself as one of the best players in the league over the course of his six-year tenure at the club.

Ronaldo scored 118 goals in 292 appearances across all competitions, winning nine major trophies. He also won the FIFA World Player of the Year and Ballon d'Or in 2008.

Cristiano Ronaldo's impact in the Premier League cemented his name as an icon back in Portugal. It also enabled the likes of Ruben Vinagre to consider moving to England to ply their trade in the Premier League and Championship.

Vinagre thanked Ronaldo for opening his eyes to English football (via The Yorkshire Post):

"I grew up watching Ronaldo at Manchester (United) and I thought I'd love to play in England. When Wolves provided the opportunity of course I wanted to go there and prove myself. Ronaldo opened up English football for Portuguese players. Now there are a lot of Portuguese players in the Premier League and the Championship."

He added:

"Every kid in football dreams about playing in England. My time at Wolves was unbelievable, I was very happy there but now I will do my best to repeat it here. English football is the best football in the world, it’s amazing – the intensity, the way the fans live for it, for me it's unbelievable. I've played in other countries and I've never seen it like this."

Vinagre joined Wolverhampton Wanderers on loan during the 2017-18 season in the Championship. The 24-year-old joined them on a permanent deal the next summer, where he made 69 appearances in total.

Since then, the left-back has also played for Everton and is currently on loan at Championship club Hull City from Sporting CP.

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Cristiano Ronaldo gets lowest EA Sports rating in 16 years

Cristiano Ronaldo may still be going strong in the Saudi Pro League, however, his EA Sports FC 24 rating has been set at just 86. This is the 38-year-old's lowest rating in 16 years, since FIFA 07.

SPL pair Karim Benzema and Neymar have been rated 90 and 89 respectively. While the popular video game's top-rated players include Erling Haaland (91), Kylian Mbappe (91) and Kevin De Bruyne (91), Lionel Messi has been rated 90 as well.

A rating of just 86 may seem harsh for Cristiano Ronaldo considering he has accumulated 20 goals and seven assists in 24 appearances for Al-Nassr to date. However, he had a poor first half of the 2022-23 season after falling out with Erik ten Hag at Manchester United.

Cristiano Ronaldo only scored three goals in 16 appearances before having his contract mutually terminated in November 2022.