On Friday, Manchester United officially announced that the club has reached an agreement with Juventus for the transfer of their former strike. Cristiano Ronaldo.
It turned out to be a topsy-turvy day for the fans of Ronaldo and all the clubs involved in the transfer. Initially, in the day, it was believed that Manchester City were the favourites to land his signature. But there was a constant tussle between the club, Juventus and Ronaldo’s agent Jorge Mendes to come to an agreement with personal terms and the transfer fee.
It is understood that Ronaldo had less than 12 months left in his contract with Juventus, which was worth approximately 31 million euros per season after-tax, and the Cityzens were not ready to pay such a fee for a player who will turn 37 next February.
They also couldn’t come to an agreement on the player’s personal terms in the two-year contract that had been proposed.
This went on for long throughout the day, but that was when Manchester United threw the hat into the ring and joined the race to sign their former stalwart. City eventually backed out of the transfer negotiation and that cleared out the path for United to bring Ronaldo back to the place where he achieved stardom.
“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,” the official statement released by Manchester United read.
“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.”
As reported by Manchester Evening News, Sir Alex Ferguson had a big role in convincing Ronaldo to join the club once again. During Ferguson’s tenure, Ronaldo joined the Red Devils as a teenager from Sporting Lisbon.
The Red Devils have signed Ronaldo on a two-year contract and have agreed to pay €15m initially to Juventus with up to €8m in add-ons.
Within minutes of announcing the signing of the 36-year-old star forward, the shares in Manchester United, which trade in the New York Stock Exchange, soared 8.8 pc to $18.77. This sums up how much Ronaldo’s arrival is going to boost Manchester United’s brand value.
Looking at this from all perspectives, it is great news for the club, Ronaldo and the fans alike. United bowed out of the Champions League quite early last season and finished second in the Premier League, behind Manchester City.
United Boss Ole-Gunnar Solskjaer already has a strong squad for this season. He acquired Jadon Sancho from Borussia Dortmund and Raphael Varane from Real Madrid earlier this transfer window, and now he will be banking on Ronaldo to help them get their hands on the Premier League title, which has been missing in the club’s closet since 2012.
