‘He can do everything’ – Paul Scholes and Owen Hargreaves praise Cristiano Ronaldo after reaching 700 club goals

Paul Scholes and Owen Hargreaves paid tribute to their former Manchester United team-mate Cristiano Ronaldo after he scored his 700th club goal.

Ronaldo’s goalscoring exploits slowed a little after he left Real Madrid for Juventus but he continues to be one of the most reliable strikers in Europe, even if his talents have dimmed a little.

He had wanted to leave United in the summer after the team failed to qualify for the Champions League this season, and after time away from the first team training in pre-season, it has taken him a little time to be integrated into the first team, and an injury to Anthony Martial may see him included more under Dutch manager Erik ten Hag in the coming weeks.

Ronaldo started for United against Omonia on Thursday night in the Europa League, and speaking ahead of the game on BT Sport, Scholes pointed out that the veteran continues to find the back of the net and had quickly learned the importance of goalscoring.

He said: “Absolutely amazing, sensational. It’s hard to put into words the kind of career he’s had. He’s still going strong. I knew him as a young player when he came over from Sporting Lisbon and he was a little bit flash, a little bit cocky with all the skills.

“But he soon learned he had to start producing goals, making goals, scoring goals, and I never thought he would go on to score 700 goals. I never really saw that as a player but what he did then for the next few years and then Real Madrid in Spain, being so successful, he is a sensational footballer and still going strong.”

Hargreaves, who won the Champions League alongside Scholes and Ronaldo in 2008, agreed with Scholes’ assessment of the forward’s talent.

“The numbers are ridiculous,” he began. “The guy was just a phenomenon. In that team we had there he was the difference. You think about Scholes, he’s had [Ryan] Giggsy, [David] Beckham, he’s had all these guys.

“Cristiano is like 6’1”, both feet, he can jump. He can do everything. He has all these amazing skills and he decided he would specialise in scoring goals. He made scoring goals look easy, 60-70 goals a season.”