Cristiano Ronaldo at age 18 in 2003. After winning his first trophy, the FA Cup, during his first season in England, he helped United win three successive Premier League titles, a UEFA Champions League title, and a FIFA Club World Cup. By age 22, he had received Ballon d'Or and FIFA World Player of the Year nominations and at age 23, he won his first Ballon d'Or and FIFA World Player of the Year awards. In 2009, Ronaldo was the subject of the most expensive association football transfer when he moved from Manchester United to Real Madrid in a transfer worth €94
Manchester City F.C. in European football has qualified for European competition on a regular basis. In the 1970s Manchester City also had a track record of repeated entry into several of the non-UEFA sanctioned European competitions which were run in the era, including the Anglo-Italian League Cup and the Texaco Cup. European club football competitions began in the mid-1950s. Though Manchester City were moderately successful domestically in this period, the club did not play in Europe. City were not invited to play in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, and the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup did not begin until 1960. When eight players from neighbours Manchester United lost