Portuguese star confirmed in a sensational €20m plus addons return deal.
Cristiano Ronaldo has made a remarkable comeback to Old Trafford after the Portuguese star agreed to a two-year deal from Juventus for €20m along with €3m in bonuses on Friday.
Ronaldo has wanted out from Juventus for some time now and was in talks with Manchester City for a Premier League return. After missing out on Harry Kane, City were looking at Ronaldo to fill in that gap up front left by Sergio Agüero’s departure to Barcelona. Even though the talks with City were promising, City confirmed on Friday that they were no longer interested in the 36-year-old as they were unwilling to pay €31 million per season for a player in the twilight of his career. Once the Premier League champions pulled out, United were the favourites and Ronaldo’s agent Jorge Mendes held talks with the United management before confirming the Portuguese’s return.
Ronaldo returns to United 12 years after his departure from Old Trafford to Real Madrid for a then world record £80 million fee.
Manchester United released an official club statement that read, “Manchester United is delighted to confirm that the club has reached agreement with Juventus for the transfer of Cristiano Ronaldo, subject to agreement of personal terms, visa and medical. Cristiano, a five-time Ballon d’Or winner, has so far won over 30 major trophies during his career, including five Uefa Champions League titles, four Fifa Club World Cups, seven league titles in England, Spain and Italy, and the European Championship for his native Portugal. In his first spell for Manchester United, he scored 118 goals in 292 games. Everyone at the club looks forward to welcoming Cristiano back to Manchester.”
Ronaldo will hope his second coming to United is just as successful as his first one where he won three Premier League trophies and one Champions League trophy amongst many other accolades. He joins an already bolstered United team, after the Red Devils signed Jadon Sancho and Raphaël Varane earlier this season.
Ronaldo, himself, had informed his Juventus teammates and management about his decision to leave and even withdrew himself from the squad for the weekend’s upcoming game.
Juventus coach, Massimiliano Allegri, confirmed the same, “Yesterday [Thursday], Cristiano told me that he no longer has any intention to play for Juventus. For this reason he will not be called up for tomorrow’s game,” said Allegri. “Cristiano is to be thanked for what he has done, also as an example amongst the youngsters. But as I said, we must go on. Things change, it’s a law of life. Juventus remains, which is the most important thing. Cristiano gave his contribution, he made himself available, now he leaves and life goes on.”
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