Manchester United forward Cristiano Ronaldo reportedly broke a transfer pact with Juventus by leaving the club at the end of the summer transfer window, according to reports.
It was expected that the 36-year-old would see out the final year of his contract at the Italian club, leaving in the summer of 2022. However, the player returned to United with the deal being agreed on the 27 August, which was completed on deadline day.
It has bene suggested by Spanish radio station Cadena Ser that Ronaldo’s agent, Jorge Mendes had agreed with Juventus that the player would not leave the club after the 15 August 2021, giving the club a fortnight to sign a replacement.
It seems rather strange that this rumour would materialise at this time, which funnily enough sees United challenging the likes of Chelsea and Liverpool at the top of the Premier League table and Juventus sitting in 18th place in the Serie A table.
At the time the deal with United was struck, Ronaldo was linked to Manchester City with the City fans laughing at United supporters and copying Ronaldo’s goal celebration, which was funny to see at the time – even funnier on the Friday evening after his return to United was announced.
It was also revealed that Mendes offered Ronaldo to Atletico Madrid but the club turned the chance to sign Ronaldo down because of a prospective backlash from supporters of the club.
Juventus ended up signing Moise Kean on a two-year loan from Everton, which included an obligation to buy the player. Kean came through the youth ranks at Juventus, playing for the first team from 2016 to 2019 before signing for Everton, a move which did now work and the player being loaned to Paris Saint-Germain last season.
So it just goes to show that the club did not need a fortnight to replace Ronaldo and the club seemed happy to offload the player, which makes these reports even more strange. It was rumoured that the club did want to offload the player anyway during the summer.
Getting his ‘eye-watering’ wages off the books was one of the reasons Juventus wanted to get rid of the player, so these reports just seem to be bitter and an attempt at bad mouthing the player, which seems so pathetic. Ronaldo’s return to United has become big news in the Premier League.
Since making his debut against Newcastle United in the Premier League, Ronaldo has scored four goals in three matches, scoring three in the Premier League and one in the UEFA Champions League. He how has 122 goals for the Old Trafford club in 295 appearances and is four goals away from matching the goal tally of manager, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
Ronaldo’s return to United might have been six to eight years too late but despite his age, he still seems to be able to offer something, which has been seen by his four goal and his determination to score goal and win matches for United – despite only paying three times so far.
United will face West Ham United for the second time this week, this time in the Carabao Cup in a match which will be played at Old Trafford. Ronaldo scored in the Premier League fixture at the London Stadium on Sunday afternoon, which was a 2-1 victory for United with Jesse Lingard scoring the winner.
It is expected that Ronaldo might be rested for this match but on the bench in case he is needed, which shows the clout he still has, even at his age. Zlatan Ibrahimovic proved that age is just a number with his form at United, at least before injury, scoring 29 goals and 10 assists in 53 appearances for the club.
Another player to show this, again for United is Edinson Cavani, who signed for the club as a free agent in the summer of 2020, and so far has scored 17 goals and six assists in 40 appearances for the club so far and despite the fact he has few minutes for the club this season, he could be leading the line against the Hammers.
A player with the record like Ronaldo will always garner attention in the media, both positive and negative. The player has scored 678 goals and 229 assists in 898 competitive appearances at club level, also scoring 111 goals, a record, for Portugal, including nine hat-tricks. The five-time Ballon d’Or winner could even extend that tally in his time at United.
Written by John Walker
