This summer the most common rumor that never came to pass was for Cristiano Ronaldo, arguably the best player in the world and former United man, to return to Old Trafford. It didn’t happen and it won’t now or later. Just stop pushing the narrative.
I came across a report that said that United was preparing to offer Real Madrid over 150 million pounds to bring the Portuguese star back to Old Trafford. Most of the time the tax scandal is brought up, but that was a whole lot of nonsense. He is not coming back to United for the following reasons:
1. Jose Mourinho does not want to deal with Real Madrid
Though the Special One once managed Los Blancos, he seemed less than enthusiastic to do business with them. Moreover, if such a move were to be tossed around, I’m sure it would involve David De Gea going the other way. Unless Joel Pereira suddenly becomes a top of the line goaltender or United can secure a deal for Gianluigi Donnarumma there is no way De Gea is leaving Old Trafford.
2. Ronaldo has finally told us why he left
At some point, humans can reach a point of complacency. He wanted a new challenge and found one at Real Madrid. Since then he has risen to the challenge of bringing back the biggest club in European football. Perhaps one then could say that maybe he’d want to come back to Old Trafford and make United an instant contender for the Champions League crown. But there are two reasons why I don’t think that will happen below.
3. The extra distance from his family
Ronaldo has a growing family. He already had a son and now has a couple of twins with his girlfriend. So while they are in Spain would he really want to spend all his time away from them? It’s not that he couldn’t afford to have someone else take care of them, but what father would want to spend all that time away from his young children? It seems obvious to me that he wants to settle down and retire in the Spanish capital.
4. He doesn’t fit in with United’s long-term plans
At 32 years old, he may not have much time as a marquee player left. I still think he has a few more years of being an elite player still left in him, but that wouldn’t make him worth the astronomical price tag. Furthermore considering the presence of young players in Paul Pogba, Romelu Lukaku and Marcus Rashford, United has a young core that figures to be together for the foreseeable future and will develop their own brand of attacking football and a new era of dominance.
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CR7 is one of the best players to ever play and his contributions to United during his time with the club will remain a part of the storied history of the club. But close the chapter and move on. Mourinho is building something special before our eyes and we need to be patient and allow it to take shape instead of reminiscing on the past. It may take another year or two but United will be a European power again soon. The wait will be worth it. The future of the club is in front of it, not behind it.