{"id":238603,"date":"2025-07-04T23:05:10","date_gmt":"2025-07-04T23:05:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/238603\/"},"modified":"2025-07-04T23:05:10","modified_gmt":"2025-07-04T23:05:10","slug":"man-utd-fans-told-new-rule-that-was-invented-allowed-two-major-signings-to-arrive-history-could-have-been-altered","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/238603\/","title":{"rendered":"Man Utd fans told ‘new rule’ that was invented allowed two major signings to arrive, history could have been altered"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Manchester United might not have seen two major signings arrive during and after the Sir Alex Ferguson era had it not been for a \u201cnew law\u201d that was introduced.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sir Alex Ferguson<\/a> was known for bringing the best in class to Old Trafford<\/a> and the 83-year-old iconic Scotsman saw both the highs and lows in the transfer market.<\/p>\n

The legendary former Manchester United manager<\/a> signed a plethora of star-studded talent, including Eric Cantona<\/a>, Cristiano Ronaldo<\/a>, Wayne Rooney<\/a> and Roy Keane<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Ferguson, on the other hand, also wasn\u2019t immune to signing flops and saw his fair share of disappointing transfers, including Eric Djemba-Djemba and Jose Kleberson.<\/p>\n

However, the positive transfers for the United legend<\/a> paid off at Old Trafford and Ferguson ushered in a period of dominance for the Red Devils over English football.<\/p>\n

During his 26-year reign at the Red Devils, the legendary Scot lifted 13 Premier League titles, two Champions Leagues, five FA Cups and four League Cups.<\/p>\n

READ MORE: Man Utd could miss out on long-term Bruno Fernandes successor after Pep Guardiola \u2018considers him a priority\u2019 signing<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"ManchesterPhoto by Ash Donelon\/Manchester United via Getty ImagesHow Man Utd legends Sir Alex Ferguson and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer both benefited at Old Trafford from a key rule change<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sir Alex Ferguson famously signed Cristiano Ronaldo<\/a> when he was only 18 years old after the ex-Manchester United<\/a> superstar impressed during his time at Sporting CP.<\/p>\n

United paid Sporting CP a \u00a312.24m transfer fee for Cristiano Ronaldo in 2003 and the 40-year-old Portuguese forward enjoyed a prolific first spell at Old Trafford.<\/p>\n

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer<\/a> also enjoyed the benefits of talent in Portugal after Red Devils skipper Bruno Fernandes<\/a> arrived at Old Trafford from Sporting CP in 2020.<\/p>\n

Bruno Fernandes has been considered United\u2019s best signing in the post-Ferguson era and the 30-year-old Portuguese midfielder has had a major impact for United.<\/p>\n

Portugal legend Paulo Futre has now suggested that he is responsible for players like Ronaldo arriving at Old Trafford in the first place after a \u201cnew law\u201d was introduced.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey had to invent a new law,\u201d he told Manchester United\u2019s official website<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn 1987, I was the only player abroad and refused the obligatory national service. So, the government had to create a new rule.<\/p>\n

\u201cLuis Figo and Rui Costa came after me and played abroad, because of me. Now there are over 300 Portuguese players playing abroad, and there are players in teams like Real Madrid and Juventus, thanks to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

READ MORE: Man Utd\u2019s transfer position revealed for midfield talent who could replace Casemiro, \u00a39m release clause is active<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Portugal legend Paulo Futre sends a clear-cut message to Man Utd fans after Sir Alex Ferguson was able to sign Cristiano Ronaldo<\/strong><\/p>\n

Portugal had a \u2018Military Service Law,\u2019 which was dubbed \u2018Law 30\/1987,\u2019 and it was in place in 1987 amid Paulo Futre\u2019s playing spell in Portugal with Porto.<\/p>\n

The law mandated military service for men between 18 and 35 years old and allowed voluntary service at 17, but it would later be abolished by \u2018Law 174\/1999.\u2019<\/p>\n

Futre started his career at Sporting CP and the former Portugal international would leave his native homeland in 1987 and sign for Spanish side Atletico Madrid.<\/p>\n

The former Sporting and Porto player hilariously suggested that United fans<\/a> should \u201cthank\u201d him for getting the old law around conscription abolished in Portugal.<\/p>\n

\u201cManchester United fans can be very grateful to me,\u201d Futre continued.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf this law hadn\u2019t changed, Ronaldo would never have played here! United fans are among the best in the world and they should thank me!\u201d<\/p>\n

Cristiano Ronaldo\u2019s stunning first spell at Old Trafford under Ferguson came to an end in 2009 after the United legend<\/a> completed his blockbuster move to Real Madrid.<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Manchester United might not have seen two major signings arrive during and after the Sir Alex Ferguson era…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":238604,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4100],"tags":[873,4116,94,21680,1883,79,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-238603","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-football","8":"tag-bruno-fernandes","9":"tag-cristiano-ronaldo","10":"tag-football","11":"tag-ole-gunnar-solskjaer","12":"tag-sir-alex-ferguson","13":"tag-sports","14":"tag-uk","15":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114797472955925743","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/238603","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=238603"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/238603\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/238604"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=238603"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=238603"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=238603"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}