Comparing Alejandro Garnacho and Cristiano Ronaldo’s records at Man Utd before turning 21

Nestor Watach • 18 Mar 2025

Manchester United starlet Alejandro Garnacho is registering goals and assists more regularly for the club than his idol Cristiano Ronaldo was at the same age.

Garnacho scored his 14th Premier League goal for the Red Devils in Sunday’s 3-0 victory over Leicester City, matching Ronaldo’s tally before he turned 21.

The Argentinian forward doesn’t turn 21 until the summer and still plenty of opportunities ahead – nine games in the Premier League and up to five more in the Europa League – to notch more goals and assists before his birthday.

But even with more time on his side, Garnacho’s stats are already impressive when you compare them to a young Ronaldo when he was developing his skills as a youngster at Old Trafford.

Ronaldo signed for United for £12million when he was a highly-rated 18-year-old back in 2003. He’d shone in a friendly against them for Sporting Lisbon and soon made the switch.

While the talent and potential was always clear to see, the teenage Ronaldo was still raw and took time to add consistent end product to his game.

Garnacho recently went on a run of 24 appearances without a goal before he broke his rut against Leicester, and he can take inspiration that Ronaldo – alongside whom he briefly played alongside when he was first breaking into the team – had similar struggles and setbacks as a youngster.

“Probably he’s watching too many Cristiano clips! We all know that he’s a big fan,” joked Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes after Garnacho’s acrobatic Puskas Award-winning overhead kick against Everton.

“There is still a long way for him to be like Cristiano but he’s getting his steps.

“He wants to be something special in the world of football and I think he has the capability to do that, but he has to do more than that goal!”

Ronaldo, of course, also won the Puskas Award during his time at Manchester United. But his long-range strike against Porto in 2009 was scored after he’d developed into a more complete, consistent player – he was 24 at the time and would soon make a world-record transfer to Real Madrid.

Surprisingly enough, Garnacho has actually won more silverware at this stage of his career than Ronaldo had. Both players won the FA Cup – and scored in final victories, against Manchester City and Millwall respectively – but Garnacho also has a League Cup to his name.

Garnacho was an unused substitute at Wembley when Erik ten Hag’s side beat Newcastle United, but he picked up a winner’s medal after featuring prominently in the run to the 2023 final.

Ronaldo won his first League Cup three weeks after his 21st birthday, scoring in United’s 4-0 victory over Wigan Athletic in the 2006 final.

We’ve broken down their stats in full below:

Note: To be clear, these are purely their stats from Manchester United before the age of 21. No internationals or youth games, or Sporting Lisbon games for Cristiano Ronaldo are included.