What an incredibly mad day and what an incredible turnaround in Manchester this Friday! The day started with news of Cristiano Ronaldo edging closer to Manchester City, but then everything transformed so quickly it was the Portuguese coming to Old Trafford by the afternoon! Yes, Cristiano Ronaldo is back at Manchester United after 12 years away and 18 years since his first arrival at the club.
So what actually happened this Friday? Well, for days it was becoming obvious Cristiano Ronaldo was eager to move from Juventus. He even held talks with their head coach Max Allegri, explaining to home that he does not want to stay in Turin anymore and after three years at the club, his time in Italy was coming to an end after winning two Serie A titles. But it was still then that Man City seemed like a first option for him. However, they changed their stance and decided against pursuing a deal for the 36-year-old Ronaldo, mostly because they did not want to pay any transfer fee to Juventus in order to sign him.
Sir Alex A Major Role
Enter Manchester United and Sir Alex Ferguson. The Red Devils joined the race for their former star. According to some sources, Man United did not even plan on signing Cristiano this summer since they did not consider it a possibility for him to leave Juventus. Once they made it clear they wanted him, the club believed Ronald would never turn them down. Everything happened so quickly. Sir Alex was described by many media sources as the major role in Ronaldo’s re-signing for the club. Sir Alex spoke to Cristiano about this move and even contacted his agent Jorge Mendes in order to help United secure the deal. After that, it was becoming increasingly hard for Ronaldo to reject such a deal. But then, the club and Juventus still had to strike the deal, too.
What United Paid?
According to Fabrizio Romano, Man United initially offered 12 million euros for Ronaldo, but Juventus settled for 15 million euros up front and bonuses that could reach up to 8 million euros. Juventus are guaranteed that the total cost would go to 20 million euros, with potential of rising further. This was important for Juve since they already invested a lot of money in Cristiano’s deal and getting some returns was a good move for them, since the player did not want to stay anyway.
Now, the last things we know are that Manchester United have announced Cristiano Ronaldo as their latest signing, that he will sign a two-year deal with the club and that he is set to undergo medicals. The Portuguese star will complete the medicals in Lisbon and will then be joining up with the national team ahead of the international break. There was not enough time to get the paperwork dine in time for him to be part of the team for the Wolves game and thus, Ronaldo could make his second Manchester United debut on 11 September against Newcastle, in team’s first game back after the break.
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