Cristiano Ronaldo and Cristiano Jr. will share the iconic number 7 shirt at Manchester United after the 11-year-old, who has been hailed as the “future” by his superstar father, officially joined the Premier League giants’ academy.
Rather than being announced by the Portugal captain or partner Georgina Rodriguez to ther hundreds of millions of social media followers, one of Cristiano Jr.’s teammates broke the news first.
“Delighted to finally have my signing day done. Even better to have mine with teammates,” wrote fellow wonderkid Gabriel, tagging Cristiano Jr as the pair held up their number 7 and number 10 shirts.
Later, however, pregnant Georgina, who is expecting twins, did share snaps of a special day for the family.
In one photo backstage at Old Trafford, where he signed his contract, Cristiano Jr. holds up the 7 jersey made famous by his father and other club legends such as George Best, Eric Cantona and David Beckham while his three younger siblings and stepmother pose with him for the camera.
In other shots, Georgina captures the five-time Ballon d’Or winner’s offspring holding hands outside the iconic ground.
Ronaldo and Rodriguez’s daughter, Alana, can be seen touching a picture of her father and other former teammates such as Gary Neville and Paul Scholes elsewhere.
“Pursuing our dreams together,” Georgina wrote in the caption. “Mama loves you [all].”
Ronaldo is yet to share details of his son’s exploits with United on social media, and the youngster does not have an Instagram account.
The 36-year-old published a photo of the pair playing football on a training pitch in Dubai last week, when Ronaldo wrote “present and future” while he watched his son control the ball in a United training kit.
Cristiano Jr. played for Juventus’s youth sides when his father was at the Italian club.
He then followed his father to England when Ronaldo rejoined United for a second spell on the August 31 transfer deadline day in 2021.
On his ninth birthday, Cristiano Jr. scored four goals on his Juventus debut. He netted seven times in one match against CS Maritimo later in the season.
If comments made on Georgina’s recently-released Netflix series are anything to go by, though, Ronaldo “will never pressure” Cristiano Jr. to become professional like him despite displaying clear talent.
“Only time will tell. I will never pressure him. He will do what he wants,” Ronaldo explained.
“Also what I want the most for Cristianito and everyone else is that they’re happy and that they choose what they want. I will support in any way.”
Writing on Instagram on Thursday, Ronaldo wrote: “Children are and will always be the best thing the world has to offer, and we must protect them at all costs.”
Cristiano Jr. is expected to play for United’s under-12 squad, which also boasts first-team midfielder and Serbia international Nemanja Matic’s son.
The contract is a first formal deal for Cristiano Jr. with the 20-time English top flight winners.
Ronaldo is aiming to end his longest sequence of matches without a club goal for ten years when United host Southampton in the Premier League on Saturday.
The United top scorer extended his barren run to five games in all competitions on Tuesday, when his side drew 1-1 at bottom side Burnley following an embarrassing home FA Cup exit against second-tier Middlesbrough.
