Ronaldo Returns Home

 I would describe me as a balanced man, keeping my emotions in check unless of course, my team has won a trophy. But I couldn’t help myself when it was confirmed that Cristiano Ronaldo was making a fairytale return to Manchester United. Like millions of United fans all over the globe, I was delighted and excited.



My Timeline Of Events

Days after Juventus’ 2-2 draw against Udinese, rumours were making the rounds that Cristiano has expressed his desire to leave the club. Then came news that his agent, Jorge Mendes was offering him to Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain (PSG). MANCHESTER CITY! Surely this can’t be true. I hope it was nothing but just a rumour. Next came news of a showdown with Juventus’ directors and a tense meeting as they were reluctant to let him leave. If he was to leave it had to be on their terms and as the days passed, the rumours grew stronger that Ronaldo’s next destination is to the wrong side of Manchester as far as we were concerned.

Torn into Parts Inside Of Me

In those days, I was silent on social media as part of me hope this was not true; he would either eventually stay at Juventus or go to PSG or anywhere else but City. The other part understood it because if he was desperate to move and there was no other club interested, what choice did he have if City was the only one that was offering him a route out of Turin. Another part of me felt it was impossible because he has always been so respectful towards his old clubs and can’t imagine that he would betray one of them in this way.

He Is Coming Home

I thought to myself why weren’t United after him? I put it down to the usual incompetence of the owners and board and of Ole Gunnar Solksjaer being afraid of introducing greater competition into the team. I am sure if United offered, he would accept it. Some fans were already criticising him and calling him a snake for considering a move to City. I felt sad about it and it would be very difficult to accept him in a City shirt but I have seen Peter Schmeichel, Andy Cole and Carlos Tevez join City and Paul Ince join Liverpool. This was going to be one of those. Friday came and as I scrolled through Twitter, I first read a tweet from a very reliable source of information, Fabrizio Romano that United was interested. There was some hope but I didn’t get carried away with it. Then came Rio Ferdinand’s cryptic tweet and Solksjaer’s pre-match comments. I was still not buying it until Romano tweeted that City was OUT of the race and United was the only interested party. That was when I felt this could happen and it finally did within hours. None of that long drawn bullshit.

As Good As the First Time?

Since Ronaldo left United to join Real Madrid, at various stages in the summer, he has been linked with a return to United but nothing materialised until now. Logic would dictate that we should be signing a central defensive midfielder but to hell with logic. This was the romance and fantasy of football. It’s been very long since I got excited about signing a player. Ronaldo might be 36 years old but he is still physically very fit, he has still got the quality to perform and what he will bring to the club by his presence is worth so much more. He is a natural leader and has a winning mentality that at various times in the post-Sir Alex era has been missing.  The example and standards he would set in the dressing room and training ground would be something for a lot of the younger players to learn off. Even those that are not so young can learn from him and he has won at United, he knows what it means to play and win for United. United has Solksjaer and Michael Carrick who have also played and won with United but neither has the personality to lead the way he does.

Now we are all excited to see him don the United jersey and play. His first match at Old Trafford will be electric. All I can hope for is that his signing has the desired effect on the team and more importantly, the manager and coaching staff will make good use of him and everyone available at their disposal. They have the tools now, what you do with it matters. 

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