Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo has spoken of the first time he knew he could turn pro.

Ronaldo first signed pro terms with Sporting CP before moving onto Manchester United.

"When I was 11, I remember when I was in Madeira and Sporting Lisbon said, 'We want to see you better. You should come to Lisbon because we want to observe you, all the coaches, all the club," Ronaldo told Marca.

"I remember [in] my first training [session] I did something and the players looked at me like, 'Whoa, can you do it again?'"

"At the end I did some tricks with the balls, so it was like, well, since the beginning I saw that for me it was easy and for the other guys this is very complicated.

"I just remember that the people were so excited when they saw me... so it was cool because I felt so proud and so big that the people appreciated my talent."