'I've only ever seen someone as good as Arsenal's Max Dowman once and he became one of the greatest ever' - scouting legend
Arsenal youngster Max Dowman's ability at the age of 16 evokes some memories of just how good Ronaldo was at the same age.
That is the opinion of legendary former Tottenham, Everton and Aston Villa scout, Bryan King, speaking exclusively to Football Insider.
The legendary Brazilian forward was with Cruzeiro at the age of 16, signing for PSV in 1994 and then Barcelona in 1996.
Ronaldo is widely considered the greatest striker of all time, winning the Ballon d'Or twice, and it is early days to suggest Dowman could have anything like his incredible career.
But the comparison speaks to the huge excitement around the Arsenal youngster, who scored and assisted in their first pre-season friendly against Girona last week.
Dowman broke through at the age of 15 last season and would go on to become the youngest Premier League scorer ever, with even more minutes expected this season.
Bryan King: 'Kevin Keegan had asked me'
With Bukayo Saka and Noni Madueke having gone with England to the World Cup, there will be a chance for Dowman to start for Arsenal in the early parts of the season.
The 16-year-old was electric against Girona, picking up a superb assist for Kai Havertz before taking on a shot himself and scoring emphatically in the second half.
"Christ, the goal he scored here at the weekend," King remarked to Football Insider. "I've only encountered that once, where I saw a player who had just turned 16 and I couldn't believe he was 16.
"Funnily enough, Kevin Keegan had asked me because he knew I'd worked at Benfica with Sven[Goran Eriksson]. I was on holiday in Portugal, funnily enough, and we were on the Algarve, and he was interested in the two Russians that they had there, [Vasiliy] Kulkov and [Sergey] Yuran.
"One was the centre forward, one was the midfield player. He wanted me to go up and see a pre-season friendly between Benfica and Cruzeiro. And at the time, Benfica had a very good side. Cruzeiro were on tour from Brazil.
"I'll tell you who I sat next to. It was then the Portuguese under-20 manager, Carlos Queiroz. Cruzeiro kicked off second half, ball got knocked forward, centre forward, absolutely electric.
"I mean, Jesus Christ. Went for a ball, knocked [Carlos] Mozer, who was six-foot-four, knocked him flying, finished off the post. Carlos Queiroz said to me: 'He's good, huh?' So I said: 'Jesus Christ, how old is he?' He said: '16.' I said: 'You're joking.'
"Anyway - [that was] Ronaldo. I went back and sent a fax to Kevin. And I said: 'Yeah, it was a good game. Forget the Russians. Young centre-forward, playing for Cruzeiro, 16, football name Ronaldo. If you can sign him, sign him.
"I think they enquired about it, but things with like work permits and that sort of stuff. You couldn't get them at that time. Within a month, he signed for PSV. Frank Arnesen had signed him, along with Bob Robson, and the rest is history."
Mikel Arteta ready to protect Dowman
With so much excitement surrounding Dowman, Arsenal simply must do their job to protect him.
The massive hype surrounding young players can often be their demise, with the expectations often too much to follow.
"We need to bring the temperature down and understand what the best thing is for this boy at this age," said Mikel Arteta in March, after Dowman had scored his first goal.
"He's doing something phenomenal, we all know that. Let's keep it down a little bit and respect the nature to do what he has to do – I'm sure he’s going to do something really good."