Top Five: Premier League’s Greatest Portuguese

1) Cristiano Ronaldo

The players already named in this list were good, but none are on the same level as Cristiano Ronaldo. Although he was not at the peak of his powers during his stay in England, his early years in Manchester helped the legendary attacker become one of the greatest footballers the world has ever seen.

Ronaldo arrived in English football for £12 million, making him the most expensive teenager in English football history. For the first three seasons in Manchester his talent was plain to see and it was clear he would be a top player, but few would have imagined that he would transform himself into the incredible specimen that he is today.

Despite being largely deployed as a winger, Ronaldo’s career escalated considerably in the 2006/2007 season as the Portuguese hit the net 17 times in the Premier League. This was only a sign of things to come. In the following seasons he was unstoppable, notching 31 goals in 2007/2008 and 18 in 2008/2009.

In his six-year spell in Manchester, in all competitions Ronaldo appeared 292 times and scored 118 goals; a remarkable tally for a winger as he was then. He also racked up nine trophies, and won nearly everything there was to win on a personal level in 2008, including the Balon d’Or.

Ronaldo had achieved it all in England and thus he decided to embark on another adventure in 2009. He decided to sign for Real Madrid for a then world record fee of £80 million, where he progressed even further to the point where he is considered one of the greatest footballers the world has ever seen.

It is hard to sum up Cristiano Ronaldo’s greatness. During his spell in England, he was not the all-conquering player he is today but nevertheless he was still one of the best players the country has ever seen. Although at the time I probably did not appreciate it at the time, but I think it’s safe to say the vast majority of English football fans would feel privileged that they got to witness one of the game’s greatest ever players ply his trade in the Premier League for a short period.