Tottenham Hotspur star Son Heung-min has revealed that Manchester United legend Cristiano Ronaldo is his “football hero”.
Both Son and Ronaldo have lit up the Premier League in their respective eras, the former for Spurs and the latter for the Red Devils.
In addition, the Tottenham captain and the Manchester United icon are both their respective national teams’ biggest and most iconic players.
Son, speaking on the Sky Sports Premier League YouTube channel, shared what he now thinks of Ronaldo after idolising him while growing up.
Tottenham star Son Heung-min says Manchester United legend Cristiano Ronaldo is ‘the real deal’
Son revealed how he still thinks Ronaldo is “the real deal” and remains his number one favourite player, going on to praise him as a role model.
The Tottenham star also recalled when he shared the pitch with Ronaldo at the 2022 World Cup, saying it was a dream come true.
Son was asked what he thought of Ronaldo and he said: “For me he’s the real deal, my football hero.
When asked whether Ronaldo was his number one, Son replied: “Yes. To grow up I wanted to be like him, watching so many clips of him.
“And sharing the pitch with him was unreal, it was like a dream.
“Still playing at forty years old and I think his birthday was a couple of weeks ago.
“The way he’s still performing, the way he looks after his body, he’s such a role model.”
Cristiano Ronaldo’s iconic Manchester United ‘audition’
In most cases, pre-season friendlies are seen as an opportunity for players to impress their own managers and stake a claim for a starting spot ahead of the new season.
However, in Ronaldo’s case, he landed himself a move to Manchester United after wowing the Red Devils contingent during a pre-season friendly in August 2003.
“We played against Sporting in 2003, we get in at half-time and John O’Shea must’ve needed an oxygen tank next to him,” Rio Ferdinand said on COPA90 in 2020.
“He was in bits and he was sitting there panting. We were telling him to get closer to Ronaldo and he couldn’t even answer us.
“To be fair, me, Paul Scholes and Nicky Butt were standing there going ‘this kid’s unbelievable, we’ve got to sign him’.
“We got on the coach and we were delayed for about an hour and a half, and then they said they were doing a deal to sign Ronaldo now.”
On 12 August 2003, less than a week after the friendly that impressed Ferguson, Man United signed Ronaldo for £12million, then a British record fee for a teenager.
In his first stint at the club, the Portuguese made 292 appearances, scoring 118 goals and developing from a young prodigy into one of the world’s best players.
| Club | Appearances | Goals | Assists |
| Real Madrid | 438 | 450 | 131 |
| Manchester United | 346 | 145 | 64 |
| Juventus FC | 134 | 101 | 22 |
| Al-Nassr FC* | 98 | 88 | 19 |
| Sporting CP | 31 | 5 | 6 |
| Total | 1046 | 787 | 242 |
Ronaldo helped Man United win three Premier League titles in a row between 2006-07 and 2008-09, as well as the 2008 Champions League.
That year, Ronaldo also won the first of five Ballon d’Or titles, a year before he moved to Real Madrid for a then world-record fee of £80million.
Ronaldo then had a stint at Juventus after Real Madrid before returning to Old Trafford in 2021, though he left the following year after a falling out with Erik ten Hag.
Ronaldo is now plying his trade for Saudi Arabian giants Al-Nassr.
