Sir Alex Ferguson admits Cristiano Ronaldo was 'bloody fantastic' when he made his Manchester United debut against Bolton Wanderers and that his debut against Bolton Wanderers gave him a conundrum.
In his first time at the club, Ronaldo scored 118 goals in 292 appearances for United, winning three Premier League titles, the FA Cup, Champions League and the Ballon D'Or.
The Portuguese superstar has rejoined his former team over the summer from Juventus and has 13 goals in 18 games in all competitions so far this campaign.
READ MORE: How Bolton Wanderers were told to deal with Cristiano Ronaldo's Manchester United debut
His first spell with United came with his debut against Bolton Wanderers in August 2003 at Old Trafford.
Ronaldo came on in the second half for Nicky Butt and helped contribute to a 4-0 victory, with a brace from Ryan Giggs, as well as strikes from Paul Scholes and Ruud van Nistelrooy.
And though legendary former United boss Ferguson admitted his initial thoughts were that Ronaldo would not play every game, he believes the superstar's showing against the Whites gave him a choice to make.
"I always remember, that when we had the discussion [about Ronaldo signing], I think the thing I wanted to impress on his agent, in particular, [was that] he won't play every game," Ferguson told the club's The Inside View.
"'But if he's so good, I can't stop him. You always play your best players.
"The opening game of the season, he was substitute. He came on and he was absolutely bloody fantastic! The crowd was magnificent, the crowd loved it.
"So here we had a situation: Do I play him the next game or do I put him back on the bench? That was a big problem, that, you know."
