Manchester United face Brentford at Old Trafford, and winger Anthony Elanga opened up about his partnership with talismanic Portuguese striker Cristiano Ronaldo, ahead of the game.
Speaking on United Review, the club’s official matchday programme, the Swedish professional said, “He is someone I look up to and speak to and ask for advice and stuff. He is a special player to work with”.
Elanga was all praises for United’s No 7, saying “You can see his record and the amount of goals he’s scored. I think it’s 100 in the Premier League.”
Also Read | ‘You have to be realistic’: Ralf Rangnick on whether Man Utd is a top club
The 20-year-old also referred to receiving pointers from Ronaldo, saying, “He know what it takes to get to the top so it’s more than right to just speak to someone like that. And, yeah, we have a chat the day before or even during a game. You might see us in the warm-up.” Elanga continued, “He’ll speak to me and [Jadon] Sancho together about what we can do in the game, to affect the games, and it’s important to have someone like that in the team.”
The duo came together most notably in recent times during United’s fixture against Norwich, which saw a Ronaldo hattrick end the game in a 3-2 win for the Red Devils. After Ronaldo’s goal from Elanga’s assist, the two celebrated with the Portuguese striker’s iconic “Siuuu“.
Also Read | ‘Man of the match today’: Lampard hails Everton fans after win over Chelsea
Speaking of the moment in that game, Elanga recounted “That was an exciting time, the double SIUUU!” adding “I didn’t expect it. He said: ‘Let’s do it’. I said: ‘Fair enough’ but, if you see in the video, I didn’t really get into the air properly!”
Ronaldo is 17 years and 81 days older than Elanga, which makes the duo’s achievement a record for Manchester United. This is the most age gap between a United goalscorer and the player assisting him, as per OptaJoe, the sports data channel.
Elanga also spoke about how Ronaldo’s invitation to celebrate with him was a sign of appreciation for the Swedish talent. He said, “Yeah, we spoke about it the day before actually. How we were going to work in terms of pressing.”
Also Read | Factos? Cristiano Ronaldo tipped for shock Real Madrid return next season
Elanga explained his partnership with Ronaldo saying “If you get an opportunity, to look up. If he gets an opportunity, to look up for me, as I’ll be in the box or he will be in the box.”
