Transfer of Cristiano Ronaldo from Real Madrid C.F. to Juventus F.C. "AS" reported that the Spanish club lost almost one million followers on Twitter in the 24 hours that followed the transfer announcement. Social Blade, however, was more economical in their estimate. Incidentally, Real Madrid's first match of the season had their worst La Liga attendance—46,446—since the last game before Ronaldo's arrival from Manchester United in 2009. Moreover, according to Ryan Plant of "The Football Pink", 'many' believed that manager Julen Lopetegui wouldn't had accepted Real Madrid's job offer in the summer of 2018, had he know that Ronaldo was on his way out. Thus, Lopetegui's time at the club was
Cristiano Ronaldo however, the Manchester United players urged Ferguson to sign him. After the game, Ferguson agreed to pay Sporting £12.24 million for what he considered to be "one of the most exciting young players" he had ever seen. A decade after his departure from the club, in April 2013, Sporting honoured Ronaldo by selecting him to become their 100,000th member. Ronaldo became Manchester United's first-ever Portuguese player when he signed before the 2003–04 season. His transfer fee of £12.24 million made him, at the time, the most expensive teenager in English football history. Although he requested the number 28, his number