An already insane transfer window got even crazier today when the Red Devils announced the return of Portuguese striker/winger Cristiano Ronaldo from Italian club Juventus. Despite being 36, Ronaldo is widely regarded as one of the best players in the world, having won the Ballon d’Or a whopping 5 times. The fee is expected to be around £12m ($16.5m) with another £8m ($11m) in add-ons. Simply put, there is virtually no other player (aside from Lionel Messi) who matches Ronaldo in terms of accomplishments on the pitch and notoriety off of it.
Lots of talking points to consider here, but lets start off with the saga of this whole transfer, because the story itself is worth discussing. It was a bizarre transfer in the sense that it was incredibly short, at least in terms of United’s involvement. It’s been known for several months now that Ronaldo was unhappy at Juventus and wanted a move away, but where he would go was unknown. Most people thought however that Ronaldo would play out the final year of his contract at Juventus and then go to the most attractive suitor on a free transfer next summer. That all changed when Messi went to Paris St. Germain. All of a sudden rumors were flying everywhere that Ronaldo was on the move as well, and I suspect that his agent Jorge Mendes was behind some of the rumors. Agents sometimes leak false information to drum up publicity for a transfer because they stand to make a good chunk of money from it. After those rumors died down though, news broke yesterday that Ronaldo was considering a move to Manchester City. This sparked a meltdown among United supporters on social media as to many of them it felt like betrayal. I didn’t feel that way personally, but it did sting that one of our best ever players was vying to play for a major rival. A move there would have shattered his status as a club legend.
But then out of nowhere, United were all of a sudden in for him too. It was astounding because we have not been linked to him at all this summer. This materialized completely from nothing. None of the sports journalists or self-proclaimed “experts” on social media saw it coming either. I was resigned to City getting Ronaldo and having to deal with that all season, but it seems that several people associated with United contacted Ronaldo personally and told him not to go there. I don’t have sources on this, but there is direct evidence that former center back (and former teammate of Ronaldo) Rio Ferdinand was one of the people to contact him. It’s rare for former players to involve themselves in transfers, but it’s even more rare for former manager Sir Alex Ferguson to involve himself. Ferguson and Ronaldo have a strong friendship and mutual respect for each other and I have to believe that there was a phone call or two between them in the past 24-48 hours. I picture the great Scottish manager ringing him up and saying, “Listen here ya wee jobby – yer not gwan tah play fer Citeh!” Lo and behold, United confirmed his signing early this morning America time when there was not even a sniff of this happening two days ago. Bruno Fernandes is believed to have contacted his Portuguese compatriot to lobby for his services as well. Well done to Director of Football John Murtough and Technical Director Darren Fletcher (another former teammate of Ronaldo) for getting this done speedily.
You can’t help but suspect that Mendes is once again playing the puppet master here. I have to wonder if he himself started the rumors about City being interested because he knew Ronaldo wanted to return to United. I think the threat of him going there may have greased the wheels in the United boardroom. Again I cannot prove that and I don’t think anyone can, but Mendes is a master of this game and it would not surprise me at all if he used City to try and bait United into submitting a bid for Ronaldo.
Right then, financials. This fee is nothing. Plain and simple, it’s just not a lot of money for any player let alone one of his caliber. The bigger question for me is that of his wages. He was rumored to be on £500,000/week at Juventus, and those are massively high. If we pay him at anything close to that it makes him the highest paid player at the club by some margin. We can afford it, but a big problem for the past 10 years or so at this club has been overpaying players, even if they perform fairly well. I never want any player to get shorted, but even £400k/week would still make him the highest earner by far. These wages, along with some discontent from Ronaldo, are the main reason that Juventus were so eager to offload him. They are facing some serious financial difficulties and they have to be ecstatic to not have to pay him that much anymore. He was also on the final year of his deal with Juventus, and would have left for free after this season. Getting something for a player is always better than getting nothing.
Last point on the financials: we are still at a net positive on Ronaldo. We bought from Sporting Lisbon in 2003 for £18m ($24m) but then sold him to Real Madrid in 2009 for a then-record fee of £80m ($110m). Juventus will now make a maximum of £20m off this transfer. 18 + 20 = 38, and then 80 – 38 = 42. United are still +£42m when it comes to transfers involving Ronaldo, which more than covers his wages for this season. Factor in how much money the club will make off Ronaldo merchandise and it’s hard to get upset about this transfer from a money perspective.
What does this mean in terms of the football? Well, if United fail to score goals this season it will be the biggest failure of manager (and yet another former teammate of Ronaldo) Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s career. This club is now absolutely loaded with attacking options. Ronaldo, Edinson Cavani, Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho, Bruno, Mason Greenwood, and Paul Pogba are all very proficient in the goal scoring department. I think it’s important to think of Ronaldo as a true center forward now. Although Ronaldo started his career as a winger at United, he will almost undoubtedly play up front as a striker. He has transitioned to that position as he has aged and the man has proven to be a veritable goal machine. All you have to do is pass it to him while he’s in the penalty area, and he will simply do the rest. Along with his noted technical abilities is his nose for the goal – the instinct to know where to be and when in order to score. We should be able to score goals at will. Good luck to any team that has to mark any combination of those forwards and midfielders.
I think the main limitation of Ronaldo these days is that he has lost a fair amount of pace that United supporters remember him having in bags back in the late 2000s. Despite his vigorous workouts and fierce dedication to fitness, he is of course 36 and at this level of competition no 36 year old is going to beat anyone for pace. He is still fast enough to compete of course, but he won’t be leaving anyone in the dust. But in true Ronaldo fashion, he has adapted his game as all the greats do. His game is based on strength and tactical nous now instead of pace and trickery. He should not be played on the wings unless its an emergency of some kind. I don’t want him to be relied upon to have to track back quickly and defend, because he didn’t always do that even in his younger days. Center forwards typically aren’t relied upon to do that, and given his penchant for goal scoring he needs to be parked in front of the opposition’s net. He shouldn’t be allowed to take shooting free kicks either. As odd as that may sound, he seems to have lost that part of his game in recent seasons and we have other gifted free kick takers anyway.
Ronaldo’s competitiveness is arguably his best quality though. The man has a level of competitive drive only seen in the top athletes in the world. He is never satisfied. The man wins trophies, has one glass of champagne at the party afterwards, then goes back to the gym to train. All he thinks about is winning, and his 30+ major trophies and innumerable personal accolades reflect his attitude. I have some fairly significant qualms about some of Ronaldo’s actions off the pitch, but from a pure footballing perspective he is the definition of professional.
I do think Ronaldo will do well on his return to United, but I am not sure just how well United will fare as whole. In this whirlwind of a transfer people it seems people have forgotten that United has a massive hole in its midfield that needs to be filled by the signing of a defensive midfielder. The match against Southampton was proof of that due to our inability to keep possession. I am excited by the addition of Ronaldo due to his ability to score, but I am concerned that we will also concede goals because of the issues in midfield. It won’t matter if we’re banging in 4+ goals per match of course, but we can’t lose sight of a core need that we have not yet addressed. Still a few days left in the transfer window though, and given how tumultuous its been so far anything can happen.
It’s unclear when Ronaldo will play in his first match. The match against Wolverhampton in two days is probably too soon, as Ronaldo still has to complete his medical, obtain/renew his UK work visa, quarantine for a bit, and begin training with the team. Given that the international break is upon us after this weekend, you would eye the September 11th home fixture against Newcastle United for Ronaldo to make his debut. He would most likely come off the bench so Old Trafford can give him a rapturous ovation for his return. I wouldn’t put it past him to get a goal, either.
I am excited for the return of That Boy Ronaldo, but I have just 1-2 reservations more than the average supporter. There is no denying his talents and achievements, but he is older and he does not address the issue we have at defensive midfielder. This has been an excellent transfer window for the club overall though and the pressure is on OGS to deliver. We have addressed two core needs with Sancho and Raphael Varane, plus added a top-5 player in the world. Trophies must be won.
4-4-2 