Freddy Adu has revealed that CR7 gave him advice when he had a trial at Man Utd

Former teenage superstar Freddy Adu has revealed how Cristiano Ronaldo took him under his wing at Manchester United when he had a trial at the club as a 16-year-old.

Back in 2004, Adu hit the headlines when he was signed by DC United at the age of 14, and it wasn't long before some of the biggest clubs in the world came calling.

Despite admitting that he has been a Manchester City fan since he was a child, Adu agreed to a trial at United, where he trained alongside the likes of Wayne Rooney and Ryan Giggs.

Another United star was also on the rise at the time, as Ronaldo started to establish himself as one of the finest players on the planet.

The Portuguese forward is famed for his tunnel vision which has taken him to the top of the game, yet Adu has claimed that he was all too happy to help him adjust to life in Manchester when he made the trip over to England.

When asked about his trial period at United, and which players offered him advice for the future, Adu told BritishGambler.co.uk: 'Cristiano Ronaldo! Everybody is always talking about Ronaldo is arrogant, he is this and that, but let me tell you that out of all of the players that were there – he was the one person out of all of them that made it a point to come to me, to talk to me, offered to take me to dinner.

'I mean, he was an amazing person. Of course, I already had huge respect for Ronaldo, but after that, I had so much respect for him and he literally became my favourite player just because of the kind of person that he was and what I witnessed.'

Unfortunately for Adu, he failed to kick on after his conversations with Ronaldo, as work permit issues meant that he was unable to move to the Premier League.

He did go on to play for other major European sides, including Monaco and Benfica, but the boy once dubbed 'the next Pele' ultimately struggled to live up to expectations and is now without a club at the age of 32.

Meanwhile, Adu's revelation highlights a different side to Ronaldo. He has since returned to Old Trafford, and at 36, is one of the elder statesmen in the team.

Even as a young man himself, he was happy to put an arm around Adu to make him feel welcome, and he may need to do more of this with players like Jadon Sancho to help United overcome their current slump and get back to challenging for major silverware under Ralf Rangnick.