The past few days social media was buzzing with the transfer of one of the greatest of all time. This came in as a surprise after another G.O.A.T landed up in Paris. Even though with all the rumours going on about Ronaldo leaving Juventus the fans of Le Zebre was optimistic. Especially after Ronaldo himself came out to talk about the transfer talk on Instagram. “I’m breaking my silence now to say that I can’t allow people to keep playing around with my name,” he said. “I remain focused on my career and in my work, committed and prepared for all the challenges that I have to face. Everything else? Everything else is just talk.” But that did not last as multiple reports came out that he is indeed parting ways with the Old Lady.
The Transfer woes of Manchester City
Everybody was talking again. Did Messi’s transfer affect the movement of the Portuguese Superstar? Will they play together at PSG? or Is the return to Real Madrid still possible? We all had our doubts. Then a new team entered the fray when no other club came up with an official bid. This new buyer has already spent £100 million for a certain charismatic Englishmanthe name of Jack Grealish. Manchester City had their eyes on Messi for so long and most of us believed it was a possible move credit to the presence of Guardiola. Pep must have been heartbroken after that missed opportunity. This particular photo came out and it was clear where Messi is headed.
Ronaldo’s Transfer to City
Then there was Harry Kane who decided to stay at Tottenham, even after having a “gentleman’s agreement” with Manchester City. The city needed a striker to fill the boots of Sergio Aguero and Kane is definitely one of the best in England to do just that. The Blues management tried everything, but Tottenham did not want to talk.
So they needed to rope in someone else and when Ronaldo was available they did not have to think twice. But they did not want to pay and wanted to do what PSG did with Messi. Ronaldo for free with 12 months still left in his Juve contract. The Italian champs wanted 25 to 28 million euros for Ronaldo and who can blame them? They spend €100 million to land him in the black and white shirt from the all-white of Madrid.
Even though Jorge Mendes offered Ronaldo to many European clubs including PSG, City was the only team that showed interest. The probability of Ronaldo to City was increasing minuteminute and social media was buzzing again. With all this news flooding the Internet, Cristiano receives a call. Boom “Hi there, this is Ferguson, Alex Ferguson”. Cheesy enough?
Even though this was not the exact content of that call, many believe Sir Alex was directly involved in the persuasion of Ronaldo. Add to this the involvement of Ronaldo’s former United mates Rio Ferdinand and Patrice Evra also played a crucial part in hijacking the City move. But would you like your club legend to join your arch-rivals? Let me put it in perspective for you. Imagine Messi joining Real Madrid or Aguero to United or even Luis Figo to Real Madrid? Oh!! Wait.
Ronaldo to Manchester United
The news of United joining the transfer race spread like wildfire on the Internet. Every news outlet, every fan page was excited. Not in our wildest dreams we thought two of the G.O.A.T’s changing their loyalties in the same transfer window. City eventually pulled out and United had the upper hand- well, the only hand. Finally, the prophecy became true- The Prodigal Son is coming back.
The Aftermath
So as fans we are all happy that the man has returned to where it really started for him. With the magnificent freekicks, the extravagant hair-do’s, and the “Viva Ronaldo” chant, everything will be back hopefully. But what about the finances of United, what about their future transfer plans? From a fans point of view, I think United needs a young but quality striker and a Defensive midfielder at the moment. Cavani, Ronaldo and Greenwood-these are the options they have for the central striker position. If the rumours are right Haaland was on the radar of the Red Devils this transfer window, but too many competitors might have forced them to drop those plans. With 20 million spends on Ronaldo and the high wage bills, will they be able to come up with enough finances to get Haaland or some other centre forward? Let us hope so.