In scouting and recruitment this remains Ferguson's grandest kidnap.
Derided by some as a step over-addicted show pony who would squeal under heavy tackling, Ronaldo found himself in a reverse finishing school. He was not over here to refine his skills. Under leaden skies he was in England to learn about physical adversity and find out what it takes to turn potential into immortality.
His team-mates helped, telling him not to yelp when tackled and encouraging him to ride out challenges and bully the bully with his brilliance.
This is why the gratitude flows on both sides. For Ferguson, Ronaldo was the magic road out of the stagnation of the mid 2000s.
With Wayne Rooney and Carlos Tévez, he led the way to the club's third European Cup win, against Chelsea in Moscow. In David Beckham's old No7 shirt, Ronaldo was proving a point to himself. If he could prosper against Liverpool, Arsenal or Chelsea in tight, frantic, physical contests, he would have the resilience to assert himself in the more technical game played in Spain.
With that move to the Bernabeu, Ronaldo has sometimes radiated the borderline arrogance of someone who considers many of his team-mates to be too far beneath him ability-wise to bother involving them. Hence the early tendency to shoot from anywhere rather than pass to someone who might only muck it up.
Ronaldo's burden at Madrid is greater than Lionel Messi's at Barcelona, which is not to say Messi is the lesser player. In Catalonia the whole team are set up to facilitate Messi's genius and just about every player is creatively inclined.
In Jose Mourinho's Real Madrid, organisation and strength are the foundations (not surprisingly, because who could hope to outdazzle Barca?) This has raised the glare of the spotlight trained on Ronaldo but also has doomed him to be seen as the second greatest player in a golden age.
Of those bought since he left the Cheshire mansion belt, only Robin van Persie can approach Ronaldo's ingenuity level. United are more workmanlike than in 2007-2009, when the £80million comic strip hero was at his English peak.
He won three Premier League titles and the Champions League before answering an urge to play in the white of Real Madrid.
Ferguson recalls the 2003 tie when Brazil's Ronaldo scored a hat-trick at Old Trafford and was clapped from the pitch by United fans.
"That time they had the Zidanes, the Figos and Ronaldo – that galaxy of great footballers, but today they are far more professional," United's manager said. "I think they are far more organised and of course they have [Cristiano] Ronaldo.
"I think we have to recognise that their best player is the one we know all about. That's an advantage to us. I know exactly everything he can do in a game and how he tends to do things.
"Getting a player to understand that is a different thing but the boy Rafael has had a fantastic season for us, he's quick, he's aggressive.
"My faith would be in him to hopefully do the job. We don't worry about that. There's no point in going into the game worrying about Ronaldo and forgetting you have your own game to play."
Nor should Ronaldo worry about upsetting United's followers with a goal celebration. He has the right to enjoy his work, whoever the position.
Sensible United fans would expect him to stay true to his talent and know he is incapable of disrespect for Ferguson or their club. And if he scored a hat-trick, they would probably applaud him from the field.
Benteke and Michu proof that scouts can be worth their weight in gold
An act of inspired scouting can save a team. Alleluias will ring out when Christian Benteke trots out in an Aston Villa shirt on Sunday and Michu seeks his 13th league goal of the season for Swansea against Manchester United.
All right, Benteke, 22, cost £7million from Genk in August, but he was hardly a target for the top Premier League clubs. Reversing the recent trend of Villa's best players clearing their lockers — Gareth Barry, James Milner, Ashley Young and Stewart Downing — Benteke has scored eight times in 17 appearances, including two against Liverpool last week, while the £24million Darren Bent festers on the bench.
The inspiration part here is that clubs outside the top six can transform themselves by clever work in the transfer market and with good information from scouts. The talent drain to Chelsea or the Manchester clubs can be offset by good judgment, as Newcastle have also demonstrated with the likes of Cheick Tiote, Demba Ba and Yohan Cabaye.
That is why any mogul buying a football club should sort out the talent-spotting department first. Arsene Wenger acknowledged as much by praising Wigan for consistently finding gems outside the inflated European mainstream.
Redknapp should ignore barmy Domenech
Harry Redknapp had better not call Raymond Domenech, the former France coach, to ask him about Nicolas Anelka, who Redknapp would like to bring to Queens Park Rangers.
In his autobiography, Tout seul, Domenech recalls Anelka erupting at half-time in the 2010 World Cup defeat to Mexico and shouting: "Enculé! [a French expletive] Do it yourself then, with your s--- team. Me, I'm quitting." Domench continues: "It's a bizarre impression: he serves no point yet has an exceptional aura."
In other words, he is a myth. But Redknapp will not rely on the testimony of one of the barmiest coaches ever to lead a major footballing nation.
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