New Manchester United signing, Bruno Fernandes, has said he fell in love with the club, since the days of Cristiano Ronaldo.
United completed the signing of Fernandes from Sporting Lisbon on Thursday for an initial fee of £46.5million (€55m), with up to £21.1m (€25m) to follow in add-ons.
The 25-year-old, a team-mate of Ronaldo in the Portugal national team, has signed a five-and-a-half-year contract at Old Trafford.
Ronaldo moved from Sporting to United after the 2002/2003 season, before leaving for Real Madrid in 2009 for what was then a world-record fee.
“My love of Manchester United really started when I used to watch Cristiano Ronaldo play and ever since then I have been a big fan of this great club,” Fernandes said in a club statement.
“For me to now play for Manchester United feels incredible, I have worked hard to get to this moment and I can promise the fans that I will give everything for the badge to help bring us more success and trophies.
“I want to thank Sporting for everything they have done for me. It is surreal to hear the nice words that have been said about me from players that used to play for this team.
“A massive thank you to Ole [Gunnar Solskjaer] and everyone at Manchester United for the trust they have shown in me and I can’t wait to start to repay that on the pitch.”