Saturday, August 28, 2021

Cristiano Ronaldo back at Old Trafford: How former and current Manchester United players reacted to transfer

Cristiano Ronaldo is heading back to Manchester United, the team that turned him into a global superstar. In a fast-moving deal that stunned world football, 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.

Ronaldo, 36, is 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.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, the current Manchester 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.

Solskjaer had already dropped hints that United would be trying to sign its former star when speaking at a news conference on Friday, revealing that its playmaker from Portugal, Bruno Fernandes, had been talking to Ronaldo. “Agent Bruno," Fernandes later tweeted with a laughing emoji.

Here's how rest of the senior squad at Manchester United reacted:

Former United players were equally elated with Roy Keane, Gary Neville and Edwin Van der Sar welcoming Ronaldo back to Old Trafford.

Neville discussed the transfer development by saying: “It’s fantastic news. A little bit nostalgic and nostalgia doesn’t always work in football, it kicks you sometimes when you don’t expect it. The idea of him going to City was torture for United fans. If there is a big player available United have to be in the market for that player.

“What they’ve done is bolster the squad with a proven goalscorer, a club legend. He will score goals and give them brilliant moments.

“It will give the club an incredible 12 months and United fans are going to be absolutely rocking to see one of their own come back and play.”

“This could give them a temporary shot in the arm that would potentially get them right up there this year,” Neville said.

“This news gives me more hope that United could have a great season because this is one of the most special players who has ever played the game of football.

“He’ll play regularly as a number nine and I’m sure they’ll put legs around him.

“Cristiano will be coming to win trophies, personal accolades, and set the Premier League on fire.

“It is a different Cristiano Ronaldo but he’s someone who still has those bursts of speed over short spaces that will cause problems.

“He makes great runs inside the box and has the anticipation where the ball is going to drop, so he will give Manchester United something that they need.”

Rio Ferdinand, former Manchester United defender, reportedly called Ronaldo at 1.30 AM to check if the rumours of him joining Man City were true.

He said: “Wow! The pendulum has swung. What a 24 hours. Man United have done what they needed to do.

“The Man United hierarchy, when they needed to move there was no looking back. They performed perfectly at every step. There was no looking over their shoulder, no hesitancy about it.

“There was an opportunity for Ronaldo to continue his history and legacy at this football club.

“If Man United had let that slip through their fingers and seen him go across the city to the other side, you’d have had security 24/7 at the stadium, not just the houses of the people involved in that.”

He added: “The attention on the club, the attention on the other players. You can’t put into words what it’s going to do for the dressing room and the fanbase.

“He’ll get you 25-30 goals this season. That’s what he does – he outscored (Romelu) Lukaku last year in Serie A – but what he can do for Mason Greenwood, Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho alone is worth bringing.

“He will show them what an A-lister, genuine superstar and an absolute obsessive professional lives and breathes on a daily basis.”



from Firstpost Sports Latest News https://ift.tt/3BiHwAT
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