Ronaldo’s stunning return to Man United caps wildest transfer window ever
By Doug McIntyre
FOX Sports Soccer Writer
Just when it looked as though Cristiano Ronaldo were destined for Manchester City, his former club Manchester United stunned the soccer world by swooping in to re-sign the Portuguese superstar on Friday.
Even in the wildest transfer window in recent memory — one in which Lionel Messi shockingly left Barcelona for PSG after more than 20 years with Barca — the way Ronaldo’s move played out was off-the-charts incredible.
Reports emerged Thursday that Ronaldo had spoken to City manager Pep Guardiola about moving to the blue side of Manchester. One went so far as to suggest that personal terms had been agreed to with the 36-year-old, five-time Ballon d’Or winner, who wanted out of Juventus after three seasons in Italy’s Serie A.
With City already slightly favored to win the 2021-22 Champions League, just ahead of Messi’s PSG, it appeared only a matter of time before Ronaldo would rekindle his rivalry with Messi, with City and PSG drawn into the same group. Both Gulf-state-owned clubs are desperate to win their first European title. Neither has been able to accomplish the feat, despite seemingly bottomless pockets.
If Messi was PSG’s missing piece, then City’s was Ronaldo. Guardiola has been trying to recruit a new striker to replace Sergio Aguero, who moved to Barca last month. The club dropped a cool $140 million on Aston Villa midfielder Jack Grealish and was willing to pay Tottenham a similar amount for forward Harry Kane. The $25-$35 million Juve wanted to release Ronaldo from the final year of the contract he signed when he left Real Madrid in 2018 was chump change by comparison.
Yet no formal offer from City ever arrived. The delay opened the door for United, which originally signed Ronaldo from Sporting Lisbon when he was a teenager in 2003. Ronaldo went on to lead the Red Devils to three Premier League titles and the 2008 Champions League crown before leaving for Madrid the following year. (Ronaldo hoisted the European Cup four more times with Real, including three straight times from 2016 to '18.)
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The first sign that something was brewing at Old Trafford was when manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was asked about Ronaldo during his media conference ahead of Saturday’s Prem visit to the Wolverhampton Wanderers.
"We've always had good communication," Solskjaer said of Ronaldo, his teammate for four seasons at Old Trafford. "He knows what we feel about him. And if he was ever going to move away from Juventus, he knows we're here."
The recruitment effort didn’t stop there. Fellow Red Devils great Wayne Rooney said earlier Friday that he didn’t believe Ronaldo would end up on the blue side of Manchester. "I can’t see it happening," Rooney said.
Another former United teammate, Rio Ferdinand, called Ronaldo to ask him not to join the club’s crosstown nemesis. "Please tell me you’re not going there," Ferdinand said:
ESPN went as far as to report that those overtures and others ultimately convinced Ronaldo to return to United.
A few hours later, the club announced Ronaldo’s signing with a two-word Tweet: "Welcome home."
United paid Juve $28 million, including add-ons.
It was a truly stunning turn of events. There had been no shortage of transfer drama earlier this summer, led of course by Messi’s switch to Paris. But there was also Sergio Ramos going to PSG from Real, Romelu Lukaku’s return to Chelsea, City’s successful pursuit of Grealish (and its subsequent failure to secure Kane), plus United’s $140 million purchase of former City prospect Jadon Sancho from German club Borussia Dortmund.
There’s still time for another major transfer or two, with Real’s $200 million pursuit of PSG’s World Cup-winning attacker Kylian Mbappe yet to be consummated.
Yet none of those deals was really surprising. Even Messi’s move to PSG was easy to predict after Barcelona announced it couldn’t offer him a new contract because of new financial regulations in Spain. That one took a couple of days to complete.
This one was different. While Ronaldo seemed determined to not let Messi hog all the attention this summer by demanding a transfer of his own, Real wasn’t interested in a reunion. PSG was reportedly offered his services, too, but declined.
That left City as the obvious pick. Despite their wealth and recent history of domestic success, the Sky Blues have eyes only for the Champions League; they lost to Premier League-rival Chelsea in the 2021 final. Adding a proven winner in Ronaldo was seen as the final piece of the puzzle to help claim Europe’s most coveted trophy, just like Messi at PSG.
That was the idea at Juve, too. But for all of Ronaldo's goals — more than 100 in his three seasons in Italy — the "Old Lady" didn’t make it past the quarterfinals. They didn’t even win the Scudetto as Serie A’s best last season for the first time in nine years.
The goals at Old Trafford are different. Even with Sancho and Ronaldo in the fold, United is not the world-beating side it was during Ronaldo’s first stint. The Champions League is a long shot. And while Solskjaer’s team finished second to Premier League-champ City last season, a 12-point gap separated the two.
So while it’s hard to characterize not inking the second greatest player of his generation, behind Messi, as a loss for City, it’s a clear win for United. The same goes for Ronaldo, who risked alienating United fans forever had he gone to the other side. Instead, he’ll return as a hero.
Turns out you can go home again after all.
One of the most prominent soccer journalists in North America, Doug McIntyre has covered United States men’s and women’s national teams in more than a dozen countries, including multiple FIFA World Cups. Before joining FOX Sports, the New York City native was a staff writer for Yahoo Sports and ESPN. Follow him on Twitter @ByDougMcIntyre.
