{"id":1244162,"date":"2022-01-27T15:19:32","date_gmt":"2022-01-27T15:19:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/?p=1244162"},"modified":"2022-01-27T15:19:32","modified_gmt":"2022-01-27T15:19:32","slug":"rafael-cristiano-ronaldo-phone-call-man-utd-transfer","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/news\/rafael-cristiano-ronaldo-phone-call-man-utd-transfer\/","title":{"rendered":"Rafael: I was convinced to join Man Utd after a phone call with Cristiano Ronaldo"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script async src='\/\/asset.fwcdn2.com\/js\/storyblock.js'><span data-mce-type=\"bookmark\" style=\"display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;\" class=\"mce_SELRES_start\">\ufeff<\/span><\/script><br \/>\n<fw-storyblock channel=\"squawka\" playlist=\"5L00K5\" mode=\"pinned\" autoplay=\"autoplay\"><\/fw-storyblock><\/p>\n<p><strong>Rafael da Silva has revealed he was convinced to join Manchester United after Cristiano Ronaldo phoned him up personally.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The Brazilian full-back moved from boyhood club Fluminense to Old Trafford in 2008 alongside twin brother Fabio, linking up with Sir Alex Ferguson&#8217;s side as a highly promising 18-year-old after being tracked for a number of years.<\/p>\n<p>Capped twice by Brazil in 2012, Rafael went on to appear 170 times for Man Utd during a career that spanned seven years in the north west of England, mopping up plenty of winner&#8217;s medals in that time, including three Premier Leagues.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/go\/livescore-bet?q=uk-all-con-bag-s\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-1242395 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/media.squawka.com\/images\/en\/2022\/01\/15142236\/_LiveScore-Bet.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1440\" height=\"828\" srcset=\"https:\/\/media.squawka.com\/images\/en\/2022\/01\/15142236\/_LiveScore-Bet.jpg 1440w, https:\/\/media.squawka.com\/images\/en\/2022\/01\/15142236\/_LiveScore-Bet-300x173.jpg 300w, https:\/\/media.squawka.com\/images\/en\/2022\/01\/15142236\/_LiveScore-Bet-1024x589.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/media.squawka.com\/images\/en\/2022\/01\/15142236\/_LiveScore-Bet-768x442.jpg 768w, https:\/\/media.squawka.com\/images\/en\/2022\/01\/15142236\/_LiveScore-Bet-110x63.jpg 110w, https:\/\/media.squawka.com\/images\/en\/2022\/01\/15142236\/_LiveScore-Bet-122x70.jpg 122w, https:\/\/media.squawka.com\/images\/en\/2022\/01\/15142236\/_LiveScore-Bet-66x38.jpg 66w, https:\/\/media.squawka.com\/images\/en\/2022\/01\/15142236\/_LiveScore-Bet-80x46.jpg 80w, https:\/\/media.squawka.com\/images\/en\/2022\/01\/15142236\/_LiveScore-Bet-180x104.jpg 180w, https:\/\/media.squawka.com\/images\/en\/2022\/01\/15142236\/_LiveScore-Bet-380x219.jpg 380w, https:\/\/media.squawka.com\/images\/en\/2022\/01\/15142236\/_LiveScore-Bet-1043x600.jpg 1043w, https:\/\/media.squawka.com\/images\/en\/2022\/01\/15142236\/_LiveScore-Bet-240x138.jpg 240w, https:\/\/media.squawka.com\/images\/en\/2022\/01\/15142236\/_LiveScore-Bet-1100x633.jpg 1100w, https:\/\/media.squawka.com\/images\/en\/2022\/01\/15142236\/_LiveScore-Bet-85x49.jpg 85w, https:\/\/media.squawka.com\/images\/en\/2022\/01\/15142236\/_LiveScore-Bet-35x20.jpg 35w, https:\/\/media.squawka.com\/images\/en\/2022\/01\/15142236\/_LiveScore-Bet-330x190.jpg 330w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1440px) 100vw, 1440px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<h2><strong>How to Bet \u00a310, Get \u00a320 with Live Score:<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ol>\n<li><strong>Join LiveScore Bet (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/go\/livescore-bet?q=uk-all-con-bag-s\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">here&#8217;s the link<\/a>)<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Deposit and place a \u00a310 bet<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Get two free bets*<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>*New members. \u00a310 min deposit &amp; bet on sportsbook, placed &amp; settled at 1.5 min odds within 14 days of sign-up. Win part of E\/W bets. 2 non-withdrawable \u00a310 Free Bet Tokens: accept in 7 days, valid for 7 days from crediting (ex. E\/Ws &amp; Multiples), stakes not returned. <a href=\"https:\/\/livescorebet.com\/uk\/promo\/p\/wo-football\/index.html?btag=a_34b_3c_\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Click here for Rules &amp; Exclusions<\/strong><\/a>. Bet Responsibly. <a href=\"http:\/\/GambleAware.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>GambleAware.org<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p>Rafael, along with brother Fabio, have made no secret that moving to one of the biggest footballing institutions at such a young age was a daunting experience, but a certain phone call from one of the club&#8217;s superstars made that transition slightly easier.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe [Ronaldo] called my phone, and I&#8217;ll never forget that,\u201d Rafael told <a href=\"https:\/\/www.manutd.com\/en\/news\/detail\/utd-podcast-rafael-and-fabio-on-the-cristiano-ronaldo-phone-call-that-inspired-them-to-join-man-utd\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em>UTD Podcast<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy phone had all the zeros [on the screen, to indicate an international call] and I was saying \u2018Who is this? I&#8217;ve never received a call like this.\u2019 I answered, and I knew him because I&#8217;d trained with him before.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe just said: \u2018Ah, [Portuguese greeting]!\u2019 I ran to my bus saying: \u2018It&#8217;s Ronaldo, it&#8217;s Ronaldo! He&#8217;s calling us to speak!\u2019<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe just said: \u2018It&#8217;s raining here, it&#8217;s raining here in Manchester, like you know.\u2019 He said: \u2018I call to say to you guys: sign for Manchester United. I know you are going to like it,\u2019 et cetera.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI could not believe [it]. It was amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n<p>Fabio went on to explain that Rafael became familiar with Ronaldo following several trials and training days at <span>Carrington, during which time he bulked up on his return to Rio de Janeiro before signing a professional contract with the club.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen my brother came back from his first time, from 20 days [of] training with Man United, he was so excited,\u201d Fabio explained.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe actually got bigger. I didn&#8217;t go the first time he went, because I was with the Under-15s in Brazil, and he went on his own.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe came back so excited, speaking about everything: how big the training ground was, the players he met, and he met Sir Alex Ferguson. He was so excited. To be honest, we are twins, so, of course, he spoke with me and told me everything, but I couldn&#8217;t feel his excitement.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cJohn Calvert [-Toulmin], the scout, said \u2018They really like us.\u2019 So, for us, we said: \u2018Maybe it&#8217;s going to happen.\u2019 We start to have a few of these trials, or like training days. Ronaldo called us to [encourage us to] sign. I think Sir Alex got him to call us. That time, I actually thought: this is true!&#8221;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>READ MORE:<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/bet\/betting-sites\/livescore-bet-bonus-code\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>How to get a bet bonus code by signing up to Live Score\u00a0<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/bet\/football-tips\/premier-league\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Premier League betting tips from expert tipsters<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/bet\/football-live-streaming\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>How to live stream today\u2019s football matches<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Rafael da Silva has revealed he was convinced to join Manchester United after Cristiano Ronaldo phoned him up personally. The Brazilian full-back moved from boyhood club Fluminense to Old Trafford in 2008 alongside twin brother Fabio, linking up with Sir Alex Ferguson&#8217;s side as a highly promising 18-year-old after being tracked for a number of&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":32,"featured_media":1244163,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_focuskw":"","_yoast_wpseo_title":"","_yoast_wpseo_metadesc":"Rafael da Silva has revealed he was convinced to join Manchester United after Cristiano Ronaldo phoned him up personally.","footnotes":""},"tags":[],"news-category":[],"class_list":["post-1244162","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":{"external_featured_image_url":"","hide_featured_image_pattern":false},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v28.0 (Yoast SEO v28.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Rafael: I was convinced to join Man Utd 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