Aston Villa star Anwar El Ghazi faces Man Utd after career advice from Cristiano Ronaldo

Anwar El Ghazi will take his Old Trafford bow this afternoon – after career guidance from former Manchester United star Cristiano Ronaldo.

The winger-cum-forward was seeking answers over his future when he turned to the global icon for advice.

Ronaldo had not long moved from Old Trafford to join Real Madrid in an £80m move that, by today’s standards, now looks to be a snip.

And thanks to a mutual friend, El Ghazi was able to hook up with the five-time Ballon d’Or winner and learn a few pointers.

El Ghazi, 24, remained coy when quizzed about the acquaintance but, given the question as to whether his international future lay with either Holland or Morocco – it is likely that middleman was Badr Hari.

The kick-boxing champ is a personal friend of Ronaldo’s and shares the same heritage as El Ghazi, who said: “I was only 19 years old and I travelled to Madrid to see Cristiano.

“I found I had a connection to him via a friend of his in Morocco who I knew as well.

“I was really surprised because he knew me from Ajax and he was very helpful and open with me. He was a great example.

“He gave me some good advice on my issue at the time. But, in the end, it was down to me.

“I had information as well from my own family and friends but when he was in front of me, I just thought to myself: ‘Why not ask him?’

“Like I say he was a very good example for me – it was a good moment.”

The playmaker started out at Ajax before seeking first-team opportunities with Lille. Signed on the recommendation of Villa’s former head of European scouting Ian Atkins, he has already written himself into club folklore.

Six months ago, he scored one of the goals that sent the club back into the Premier League.

And he’s clearly got an edge to him, too. El Ghazi stood toe-to-toe with club-mate Tyrone Mings as a spat during a game against West Ham threatened to get out of hand.

He said: “To be honest, Tyrone’s one of the players I have a good connection with. Even friends can have a few moments like that. That’s football.

“Most of the time you are friends, but then you can be enemies. But it shows that you want to win, that you want to fight for the club, that you want the best for Aston Villa.

“It doesn’t show any negativity, it shows how important the game is to us both.”

Asked whether he had second thoughts when he squared up to Mings, who stands six feet five inches tall, he said with a glint in his eye: ‘No, why should I? After all, I’m pretty tall, too.”

Aside from his differences with team-mates, there is no doubt El Ghazi has made an impact in the Premier League. His goal last Monday sealed the points for Dean Smith’s side ahead of a tricky week for the Villans. After today’s trip to Old Trafford, they travel to Chelsea before facing in-form Leicester City.

El Ghazi added: “The Premier League is a big step, definitely. We played Newcastle last week and I was talking to Jetro Willems about it, he said to me: ‘It’s so much harder here, compared to Germany.’ And I think the same coming from France. It’s a lot harder. But it’s enjoyable.

“It’s a lot more enjoyable, of course, if you win.

“And we are playing well. But it’s just not consistent. We have parts of matches where we play well. Against Newcastle, we started well but the first 10 or 15 minutes of the second half, we didn’t do well.

“If we can solve that, we will win a lot of matches in this league but we are not being consistent over 90 minutes.

“I think we will pick up more victories during the second half of the season. We have a lot of new players and the club has come from the Championship. I think we are progressing. It’s a matter of time.

“And there is an opportunity for us. Manchester United are not like Manchester City or Liverpool at the moment, so there is an opportunity for us.

“Other teams have shown how they can play against them and I think we can as well. But we will have to work hard.

“A few of our players have been talking about going there. It’s one we are looking forward to.”