File Picture
Cristiano Ronaldo is heading back to Manchester United, the team that turned him into a global superstar. In a fast-moving deal that stunned the world of soccer, Ronaldo secured a return to Old Trafford on Friday — a day after telling Juventus he no longer wanted to play for the Italian club.
“Welcome back, Cristiano,” read a tweet posted by United. Within minutes, the club”s official website had crashed, reported AP.
Welcome ????, @Cristiano ?#MUFC | #Ronaldo
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) August 27, 2021
Ronaldo is 36 years old, a completely different player to the skinny, outrageously skillful 17-year-old winger who first arrived at United from Sporting Lisbon in 2003 with a box of tricks but little end product.
In the following six years, he scored 118 goals in 292 appearances and swiftly became one of the most fearsome strikers in the world, winning the first of his five FIFA world player of the year awards.
Born and raised in Madeira, Ronaldo began his senior club career playing for Sporting CP, before signing with Manchester United in 2003, aged 18, winning the FA Cup in his first season.
He would also go onto win three consecutive Premier League titles, the Champions League, and the FIFA Club World Cup; at age 23, he won his first Ballon d’Or.
Ronaldo was the subject of the then-most expensive association football transfer when he signed for Real Madrid in 2009 in a transfer worth €94 million (£80 million), where he won 15 trophies, including two La Liga titles, two Copa del Rey, four Champions Leagues, and became the club’s all-time top goalscorer.
He also finished runner-up for the Ballon d’Or three times, behind Lionel Messi (his perceived career rival), and won back-to-back Ballons d’Or in 2013 and 2014, and again in 2016 and 2017.
In 2018, Ronaldo signed for Juventus in a transfer worth an initial €100 million (£88 million), the most expensive transfer for an Italian club and the most expensive transfer for a player over 30 years old. He won two Serie A titles and a Coppa Italia in his first three seasons with the club.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, the current Man United manager, knows that all too well. He was once a teammate of Ronaldo.
“He is the greatest player of all time, definitely,” Solskjaer said Friday after Ronaldo”s return was sealed.
Ronaldo will join for a fee of 15 million euros ($17. 7 million), with 8 million euros ($9.4 million) in add-ons. The transfer is subject to agreement of personal terms, visa and a medical examination.
Before playing his first game back at United, Ronaldo will feature for Portugal in World Cup qualifiers and has the chance to become the leading scorer in men”s international soccer. He has 109 goals for his national team, tied with former Iran striker Ali Daei.
