393 games as a professional and 111 goals. A ’round’ number despite so much one for Vitali Kutuzov, a striker born in Belarus when he was still part of the former USSR. He stood out in local football and Milan was interested in him until he was hired.
After a brief time, those from Lombardy tried to make it grow further away from the San Siro and transferred it to Sporting de Portugal. There and with only 21 years he coincided with a young Cristiano Ronaldo. The one from Madeira was directly underage and was beginning to stand out with the Portuguese.
Now, in an interview with the Italian journalist Gianluca Di Marzio, he explains what that stage was like in which both coincided. “We were two kids on a champion team that had won everything. He was 17, I was 21. The goal was to show myself. He asked me questions about Milan and what it was like to train with players of that caliber.”
For the Belarusian, the now United striker has evolved from that kid from Sporting to the voracious goalscorer he became at United and forged at Madrid. “He was hungry to finish off, although now he is a different player: at that time he was more of a dribbler, today he is complete and contributes in every way,” he acknowledges.
For the also forward, Cristiano was a close teammate and he enjoyed his progress in the team a lot and also, when he began to solve his life “On many occasions, we also share a room. I remember when he got his first car, a Mercedes that he didn’t even know how to drive. But his satisfaction to arrive at the field with a car that he bought was incredible”, sentenced.