Ever since he left Manchester United back in 2009, Cristiano Ronaldo has become arguably the finest footballer to ever grace the game.

The Portuguese forward has been an £80m bargain at Real Madrid, with him and Barcelona's Lionel Messi redefining the game with their lethal goal scoring and decisiveness.

After a few baron years with Los Blancos trophy-wise, Ronaldo and his teammates have been ridiculously successful in the last four years.

They have won three of the last four Champions League trophies up for grabs, as well as lifting both a Copa Del Rey and a La Liga title.

Ronaldo has been at the core of all their success, scoring a ridiculous amount of goals and his record at the famous club reads that he has found the back of the net more times than he has played.

He may have lifted his first Ballon d'Or during his days with United, but no one can deny that he has dramatically improved as a player at the Bernabeu.

When he left in 2009, no one really knew the real motive behind his move, particularly as United were arguably the finest side in the world, winning the 2008 Champions League and only losing out in the following final to Pep Guardiola's Barcelona.

However, Ronaldo has finally revealed his reasons in an interview with his former Red Devils colleague Rio Ferdinand.

WHY HE LEFT

"I just thought in my mind I want to go there to show my level, to show that I'm a different player and that's what I did," said Ronaldo, per Telegraph.

"I arrived and I had a fantastic first season and then I have improved every season," he added.

A full video of his discussion with Ferdinand can be seen below.

VIDEO

So, there you have it, he wasn't after money, nor was he desperately craving more trophies, he just simply wanted to prove to the world that he was capable of cutting it at the world's most famous club.

This season, Ronaldo has endured a tougher start to life, failing to score in La Liga, however, he did score a brilliant brace in the Champions League away at Borussia Dortmund.

He just loves Europe's premiere competition.

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