Cristiano Ronaldo has the attitude and temperament to cope with the increasing media and public attention heaped upon him, according to Sir Alex Ferguson.
United's Asia Tour has served to confirm the 22-year-old Portuguese winger's status as a world star. But, his level-headedness is important. Under the watchful eye of his manager, who has coped with similar situations in the past, most notably with David Beckham, Sir Alex will ensure he is not "wasted" by the attention.
"Ronaldo is an intelligent boy who looks after himself," Ferguson told the UK's written press. "He has a lot of pluses. How players handle that celebrity kind of attention, you never know, but with Ronaldo he seems to do OK with that.
"The problem comes when players get flattered by it and start enjoying it. That's when you start worrying but at the moment there's absolutely no sign that the boy will be wasted by it. When people ask to interview him, it doesn't worry me too much. He can cope."
Sir Alex's track record for protecting players, like Beckham, Ryan Giggs and Eric Cantona, is second to none. "It's obvious when a talent like that comes along that there will be attention but this club has been used to that for years now," adds the boss.
"Ronaldo is 22 and at that age you have to be flexible when it comes to curtailing their youthfulness. They like to dress differently and they want a bit of freedom in their choices. They want to be men before they are men and, with Cristiano, a lot has happened to him in his time at Manchester United; but he has matured fantastically well."