Cristiano Ronaldo scored his 700th club career goal in Manchester United‘s 2-1 win over Everton on Sunday night, making him the first player to ever do so.
This is just one of many other goalscoring records CR7 has to his name over a 20-year playing career and while Erling Haaland might be the biggest goal machine in Manchester right now – or anywhere for that matter – Ronaldo’s longevity is rather incredible.
First up, let’s deal with his most recent landmark: 700 club goals.
Ronaldo started out his career at Sporting Lisbon, netting just five before being snapped up by Man United the first time around where he went on to score 84 goals.
Then came Real Madrid, where he etched himself into history with a whopping 292 goals in 311 games. He spent nearly a decade in the Spanish capital before moving to Juventus, where he scored 81 goals in just under a century of appearances.
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After returning to Old Trafford last year, he scored his 144th goal for United over two spells on Sunday. This is how he did it:
The Ronaldo vs Messi debate is one that will never be settled but while many may feel the latter is the more gifted footballer overall, you can’t argue with numbers and 140 goals to Messi’s 127 in the Champions League is a gap we don’t see being closed any time soon.
We certainly don’t expect anybody to score a better one than this:
OH. MY. WORD! 😱
Cristiano Ronaldo with an outrageous overhead kick!
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) April 3, 2018
Most international goals
Doing it in the big European games is one thing but there is no bigger stage than representing your country at an international tournament and Ronaldo has been Portugal’s hero and top goalscorer for years.
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He became their leading goalscorer all the way back in 2014 before going on to break Ferenc Puskás’ European record of 84 national-team goals at the 2018 World Cup. He now sits on 117 goals for his country, the most of any male player — no matter how many time Pele tries to move the goalposts.
Here’s just 10 of them:
Cristiano Ronaldo is Portugal’s all-time top scorer with 99 goals to date 🇵🇹
It seems there is no number too big for the Portuguese star and even at 37, he is still scoring goals at the highest level and he hit the professional pinnacle not long after returning to United last season.
On 12 March, 2021, Ronaldo broke Joseph Bican’s record nearly 70-year-old record of 805 competitive goals with a hattrick against Spurs that very much rolled back the years and stamped his name even deeper into the history books.
With the veteran now off the mark for the Premier League season, we expect there’ll be more to come. No matter his age, how many minutes he gets or well he plays, Cristiano Ronaldo scoring goals is just a fact of life.
There will inevitably come a time when someone will take his goalscoring crown — and we have a feeling it might a certain blonde-haired individual across the other side of Manchester — but on this, it feels like Messi will always come second to Ronaldo as the greatest goalscorer of all-time
The 2027 World Climbing Series is coming to Manchester
Danny Jones
In yet more huge sporting news for Greater Manchester, the 2027 World Climbing Series is coming to 0161 later this year.
We’ve had plenty of big peaks of late, but things seem to just keep going up and up.
Set to host the global event for the first time in our history, Manchester will welcome the World Climbing Series (WCS), which is set to include both Olympic and Paralympic disciplines ahead of the next Summer Games in 2028.
2027 will mark the 38th edition of the series, which will also be one of only a handful to be held in the North – it’s just down to our city to make it the best.
Officially announced on Friday, 16 January, the British Mountaineering Council (BMC) confirmed the return to the UK.
Founded back in 1989, the International Federation of Sport Climbing (IFSC) is coming up on four decades since the competition first began – Leeds being chosen as the inaugural hosts – the event has come a long way since then.
The IFSC’s rebranding of the annual bouldering, lead and speed trials to the modern WSC, which began last year, was initially revealed back in 2023.
Welcoming continental talent right down to the youth level, the upcoming 2026 World Climbing Series is taking place in the summer and will be hosted by the city of Innsbruck in Austria.
As for the WSC’s Manchester debut, which is being organised in collaboration with the City Council, Manchester Accommodation BID, MCR Active and the National Lottery via UK Sport investment.
It’s not the only big sporting celebration that the Council will be supporting in 2027.
Paul Ratcliffe, CEO of the British Mountaineering Council, said in an official statement: “It’s exciting to be able to confirm that a World Series climbing event will return to the UK in 2027 as part of the BMC’s major event programme.
“Hosting a competition of this scale in Manchester is a strong statement about the UK’s place on the international climbing stage and a great opportunity for our athletes, fans, the climbing community and the wider public to experience the sport at the very highest level.
“Our ‘Route to Adventure’ strategy sets out how we will build on moments like this to support people into climbing and help them progress, whatever their starting point. Using major events to inspire participation, strengthen pathways and reinforce our commitment to inclusion is central to our long-term approach.”
Scheduled to take place in June, you can find out more information about the 2027 World Climbing Series in Manchester by signing up for the official event mailing list HERE.
Manchester City agree deal to sign top Premier League defender Marc Guehi
Danny Jones
It looks like they’ve finally got a done deal: Manchester City have reportedly agreed a deal for the transfer of highly sought-after defender Marc Guehi.
Man City are said to have finally reached an agreement with Crystal Palace to sign the increasingly established Three Lions star after emerging as a suitor in recent weeks.
Pep Guardiola’s pursuit of the impressive Premier League centre-back ramped up earlier this month, as it became apparent that they were hoping to hijack Liverpool’s prospective move for Guehi.
The Ivory Coast-born England international looked all set to arrive at Anfield back in the summer, but the deal never materialised, and now rivals City appear to have sealed his signature.
According to breaking transfer news specialist Fabrizio Romano, Palace and Man City are said to have now reached an agreement in principle for approximately £20 million.
It’s fair to say that it’s an absolute bargain for a player of his quality.
While details surrounding contract length, wages and add-ons, etc., are yet to be fully confirmed (as is final verification as per an official announcement via his new employers), personal terms are not expected to be an issue.
On the other hand, the acquisition will also see Man City’s total spending to roughly half a billion pounds over the past year alone. Staggering sums for any sporting outfit.
Not that his former London team will mind one bit, of course, as it became increasingly clear that Guehi would be leaving eventually; manager Oliver Glasner – who also seems set to depart at the end of his contract – even addressed the sale in his most recent press conference.
You can see the clip in question down below.
''I wish him all the best for the rest of his career, he will have a great career I think''
Once again, we will have to wait for the official unveiling at the Etihad Campus, but we’d say that this interview is all the verification you need.
With Man City currently facing multiple absences, particularly in their backline with both Josko Gvardiol and Ruben Dias out injured, Guehi’s arrival is no doubt a welcome one.
Although many debated whether or not Pep needed to sign another centre-half, especially with two promising youth players returning from loan, supporters will nevertheless be glad to have snatched him from the clutches of Liverpool.
Over in the women’s team, they’ve also brought in a new member of the squad who could help spur on their title charge.