The man of the hour – Cristiano Ronaldo, is the talk of every town across England and abroad as the living legend of football has locked in on a sensational move back to where he belongs at the ‘theatre of dreams’ in Manchester.
A journey that started in 2003, when an 18-year-old teenager was scouted from Sporting Lisbon by the then great Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson, has come a full circle with their no.7 club hero preparing to stage an iconic comeback in the toughest competition of European football – the English Premier League at 36 years of age.
In an emotional rollercoaster of a ride not meant for the faint-hearted, Ronaldo’s quick exit from Juventus sparked many speculations regarding the Portuguese superstar’s future for the rest of the season among his millions of fans.
CR7’s army of loyalists was heartbroken by the news of former Man United talisman being in talks with rivals Man City as Ronaldo’s super-agent Jorge Mendes was determined to relocate his biggest client to a top club soon after the footballer parted ways with the Bianconeri.
However, Mendes is another legend when it comes to his work and when he delivered Ronaldo back to his footballing cradle at Old Trafford by hijacking his move to the Etihad with all dues covered, he just proved how good his understanding of the market really was.
As soon as Pep Guardiola-led Man City left the negotiations to sign Ronaldo, former team-mate and current United boss, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer leapt across the table to prepare an offer Ronaldo was dying to receive in the very last hours, famously called as “Fergie time” for the Manchester United faithful.
Along with notable efforts coming from the high-strung Board of the club that include the likes of Ed Woodward (top executive) and of course Joel Glazer (Glazer family, owners of Man United), the PL giants were able to seal the deal before officially confirming the greatest homecoming in all of sporting history by announcing Ronaldo’s signing on Friday (August 27) just a few days before the summer transfer window deadline.
Expectedly, their website crashed and Cristiano Ronaldo earned himself a new record to add to his unending tally of accomplishments. Ronaldo is scheduled to clear his medical in Lisbon in the coming days and is most likely to make his second home debut as early as September 11 when the Red Devils face Newcastle in the PL.
While former Manchester United legends like David Beckham, Roy Keane, Edwin Van Der Sar, etc. were delighted to post celebratory messages for Ronaldo’s dreamy homecoming to the Red Devils, young guns and new signees Jadon Sancho and Raphael Varane, who were bought by Solskjaer in the same transfer window as CR7 were brimming with mutual ambition to play alongside the greatest footballer the world has ever seen right until the last hours before the signing was confirmed officially by United on their website.
Cristiano Ronaldo broke the internet as well as skyrocketed Manchester United’s share price on the stock market by over £200 million (more than 6%) by confirming his move back to where he began his illustrious career,
As per his two-year deal, CR7 is expected to rake in £480,000-a-week (£25 million annually) at Old Trafford making him the top earner at the club ahead of David de Gea who comes second with £375,000-a-week.
