Cristiano Ronaldo fell foul of Alex Ferguson during his early years at Manchester United for doing too many stepovers.

Ronaldo made his name at United, moving to Old Trafford from Sporting CP as a teenager and winning three Premier League titles along with the first of five Ballons d’Or.

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The honours and plaudits continued during his record-breaking stint at Real Madrid but, even as he begins a fresh chapter at Juventus, Ferguson’s influence endures.

‘Of course, in the beginning of my career he was so important to me because I moved from Sporting to Manchester and had that Portuguese mentality – too many stepovers, decision making was not the best,’ the 33-year-old told DAZN.

‘So he taught me how to do it. In the Premier League they don’t fall over so easy, they are tough.

‘As I’ve said many times, he taught me everything. He was like a father to me. He helped me a lot at Manchester United.’

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Ronaldo himself is a father figure in the literal sense nowadays, with four children of his own and he hopes his eldest – the eight-year-old Cristiano Jr – can follow in his footsteps and become a football star.

‘He is very competitive. He is like me when I was young. He doesn’t like to lose,’ he said.

‘I like to teach him some stuff. He’s going to be whatever he wants and I’m always going to support him but of course, I want Cristiano to be a football player because I think he has that drive.

‘He has a good body, he’s fast, he has skills, he can shoot good. But he’s going to take his decision and he’s so young.

‘I’m not going to put pressure on him, but I dream to see my boy as a football player.’

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