Man Utd, Ronaldo reunite to rekindle past glories
Cristiano Ronaldo completed an emotional return to Manchester United on Tuesday, 12 years after leaving as the world’s most expensive player, tasked with firing the Red Devils back to the top.
The 36-year-old has forced a return to the Premier League from Juventus as one last shot at a sixth Ballon d’Or and Champions League title.
Ronaldo arrived at United as a skinny 18-year-old from Sporting Lisbon in 2003 with a bag of tricks.
In six years under the tutelage of Alex Ferguson his physique and end product were transformed to lead United to three Premier League titles and Ferguson’s final Champions League in 2008.
However, even United could not resist Ronaldo’s desire to move to Spain when Real Madrid offered a then world record £80 million ($110 million) in 2009.
Real were more than rewarded with nine years of Ronaldo in his prime.
He smashed the club’s all-time goalscoring record at a rate of more than a goal a game, netting 450 times in 438 appearances.
After ending Real’s long-wait for “La Decima”, the club’s 10th European Cup, he spearheaded a run of three consecutive Champions League wins between 2016 and 2018.
That is what United are looking for an ageing Ronaldo to repeat.
The club he returns to is different to the allconquering behemoth he left behind.
United have not won a league title since Ferguson left in 2013 and have failed to even qualify for the Champions League regularly in the intervening years.
Progress has been made in the nearly three years since Ole Gunnar Solskjaer replaced Jose Mourinho, but the Norwegian is still to win a trophy as United boss and they finished a distant second to Manchester City in the Premier League last season.
Ronaldo’s experience in Italy also serves as a warning of what could go wrong on his return.
Juventus had reached the Champions League final twice in three years prior to Ronaldo’s arrival in 2018 for 112 million euros.
In his three seasons in Turin, la Vecchia Signora never made it beyond the quarterfinals - crashing out to far less well-resourced opposition in Ajax, Lyon and Porto.
Inter Milan also ended Juventus’ nine-year grip on Serie A last season.
But Ronaldo can argue that was a sign of the Italian giants’ declining standards rather than his own.