Manchester United do the right thing by bringing back Cristiano Ronaldo

Manchester United get their old No. 7 back at Old Trafford and Cristiano Ronaldo is happy to be there.

Cristiano Ronaldo will be playing centrally most often under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and will be relieved by Edinson Cavani when he is able and healthy. With the likes of Marcus Rashford, Mason Greenwood, Anthony Martial, Bruno Fernandes and Paul Pogba, the addition of Ronaldo is a significant move — keeping him from crosstown rivals Manchester City is a bonus.

It looked like Ronaldo was bound to play for Pep Guardiola and City as a cheap alternative to signing Harry Kane from Tottenham. While the latter didn’t happen, the former fell through when a barrage of former United players and Sir Alex Ferguson intervened to steer Ronaldo back to his old club.

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For United, this was an important move off the field as much as on the field. The player they got from Juventus can still produce at a high level despite his advanced age.

He is a marvel, as was witnessed when he set the men’s international goal scoring record with Portugal and then won the match for them at the death.

How will he help secure and stabilize a relatively shaky, but remarkably talented, outfit?

Cristiano Ronaldo: Valuable for Manchester United on the pitch, off the pitch and in the dressing room

The Portuguese legend has returned to United after spells at Real Madrid and Juventus. While he found more success with the former than the latter, he has found success at every stop of his career since leaving Old Trafford. He returns to a very different team than he left and as a very different player than he was before. It will be up to him to play a different role at Manchester United.

Ronaldo will have to help instill good, consistent habits and expectations ¯ like Fergie would have — and will be asked to finish as a No. 9. While he is more than capable of doing all that is asked of him, it will be interesting to see how he functions within the club and its players.

Manchester United are inconsistent and have been for years. Ronaldo will look to make sure his teammates understand that the up and down play will not be tolerated either by him or by his coach, who he played with at the tail end of Ole’s United career.

From a playing standpoint, however, I don’t think anything I say will be considered earth-shattering. Ronaldo will produce, there is little question of that. He has a point to prove, as always, and has the true, time-tested abilities to dominate even in his mid-30s. He also has very talented teammates and Ole will know how to incorporate him in a winning manner where he and his teammates both benefit from his positioning and understanding of his role.

Keeping him away from Manchester City feels like an almost equally massive move. For whatever reason, Pep does not trust Gabriel Jesus like he trusted Sergio Aguero. Jesus is likely to feature plenty this season but City’s objective seemed to be to sign a more traditional striker.

With his endless supply of midfield talent, Pep will mix them alongside Raheem Sterling, Riyad Mahrez and Jesus to good effect. But if ever United might be able to win a Premier League, even with Chelsea lurking, it feels like this year might be the year to do it.

How the season unfurls is anyone’s guess and something massive could occur to completely shift the balance of power to, or away from, any of the aforementioned teams. It is difficult to imagine United not challenging seriously this year with their new players and general squad depth. Should they bring the title to the other side of Manchester by season’s end, they will Fergie, Rio Ferdinand and, most of all, Cristiano Ronaldo to thank.