Man Utd transfer news: Roy Keane reveals truth behind Cristiano Ronaldo deal

That is according to legendary Manchester United midfielder Roy Keane, who was captain of the Red Devils at the time.

Ronaldo joined United for just over £12million and went on to score 118 goals in all competitions.

He scored six times in 40 appearances in his debut season as a raw teenager.

But Keane has revealed how it could have been different had he chose to stay at Sporting for 12 more months.

“That option was given to him at 17 years of age to stay on-loan at Lisbon,” Keane said on ITV.

“But the guy stuck his chest out and said ’no I want to go over there’.

“If you remember when he first came to United as a young kid, he was getting criticised for going down too easily.

“Saying that he still does that, let’s be fair he’s not perfect.

“But his end product, his final delivery and all that has just come to him.”

Keane was speaking after Cristiano Ronaldo scored his fourth goal of the World Cup against Morocco.

Portugal now have four points from their two games, following the 3-3 draw with Spain last Friday.