The day Kleberson overshadowed Cristiano Ronaldo at Manchester United

Manchester United began the 2003/2004 season with the introduction of two players. One of them was a Brazilian midfielder, Brazilian champion in 2001 with Athletico and the 2002 World Cup with the Brazilian national team.

And the other was a young Portuguese striker who arrived as a bet from Carlos Queiroz, assistant to coach Alex Ferguson.

The protagonist of August 12, 2003 was Kleberson , who was sold by Athletico for six million pounds and became the first Brazilian to play for Manchester United. Along with the midfielder, the Red Devils introduced Cristiano Ronaldo , at the time only 18 years old, and who was given the number 7 shirt, which belonged to idol David Beckham, upon arrival.

See also + The 'daddy' has arrived: Odair arrives at Athletico with the mission of repeating Inter's feat

The joint presentation of Kleberson and Cristiano Ronaldo was a coincidence. The Portuguese player was already being watched by scouts, but was signed after standing out in Sporting's 3-1 victory over Manchester United in a pre-season friendly.

“I had heard a lot about [Cristiano Ronaldo]. I arrived in England a day before and we went early on the day of the presentation at Old Trafford. People were talking a lot about me being presented with 'a boy who played against us in pre-season and came from Sporting'. People were already talking a lot about him, but the star was me”, recalled Kleberson, in an interview with the Carneiro & Mafuz podcast, from UmDois Esportes .

When he arrived in England, Kleberson spent time with players who were already Manchester United idols. “I remember going into the Manchester United dressing room and there were Paul Scholes, Van Nistelrooy and Roy Keane, a winning generation. It was very rewarding,” he said.

Kleberson made his Manchester United debut on August 27, 2003, in a 1-0 win over Wolverhampton in the English Championship. However, the Athletico idol's time in England fell short of expectations.

The Brazilian struggled with injuries and adaptation problems and left the Red Devils after just 30 games in two seasons and two goals.

“I didn’t adapt very well, I couldn’t play my best football, but I had some injuries that hindered me. When I had injuries and had to come back, I had to compete with Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs and even Cristiano Ronaldo. It wasn’t easy for me to compete. It’s not like 2001 when I would get injured and Pires or some other player would come in. I’m not comparing, but it’s different,” lamented the former player.

After two seasons, Kleberson left Manchester United and signed with Besiktas in Turkey. Years later, the midfielder regrets leaving English football.

“I lacked patience. When I went to Turkey, one thing I regret a lot… I don’t regret going to Besiktas, which has a great fan base, but if I had another year in England, I would have felt like an English player. My pre-season was very good, I started playing a little while ago, but I had this opportunity to go to Turkey. I wanted to return to the national team,” he said.

Kleberson had a brief stint at Athletico in 2011 and also played for Flamengo, Bahia, Philadelphia Union, Indy Eleven and FL Strikers. The midfielder also played in the 2010 World Cup.