Cristiano Ronaldo’s return to Manchester United has descended into a crisis – but it’s one of their own making.
After three successful seasons and 101 goals in Italy for heavyweights Juventus, Ronaldo last year sought a move to a Premier League heavyweight.
He was on the brink of signing for Manchester City, Pep Guardiola’s cashed-up side with four of the last five Premier League trophies in their silverware cabinet. But United caught wind of the move, and gazumped their cross-town rivals at the last minute to bring the Portugal captain and all-time great back to Old Trafford – the place where he evolved from a breakout young gun to superstar.
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It was heralded as a statement of intent from a club that had not won the Premier League since the great Sir Alex Ferguson departed in 2013. United brought home one of the club’s favourite sons, a proven goalscorer who could guide the promising brood of young, gifted attackers – and just as important, they had robbed the light-blue half of Manchester of bragging rights over one of the best to ever kick a ball.
Less than 14 months later, the Portugal star has been dumped from the first-team squad for this weekend’s massive clash with Chelsea after his latest petulant act: marching down the tunnel and even leaving the stadium before full-time after being benched by Erik Ten Hag.
Ronaldo is being forced to train alone, and the club is now considering selling him – or giving him away – to another club in January’s transfer window.
His departure seems now to be a matter of time, but it’s already overdue. The Red Devils are likely wishing they shipped him out before this season, and perhaps even wondering whether they should have signed him at all.
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Even before Ronaldo’s return was secured by the Manchester United hierarchy, eyebrows had been raised, concerns raised among fans and pundits – and even inside the halls of the club’s Carrington training ground.
There’s no doubting his scoring record, no disrespecting his immense achievements. Five Ballon d’Or trophies as the best player in the world. In his first time around at Old Trafford, he scored 84 times in 1996 Premier League games, winning three-straight titles and a Champions League to boot. But the Ronaldo that returned to the club in 2021 was a wholly different proposition to the one who left for Real Madrid in 2009 for a then-record £80 million.
Ronaldo had gone from a genuine winger to a versatile attacker with licence to roam, but in recent years became more of a central focal point, a target-man and deadly finisher inside the box. While his relentless dedication to training and off-field lifestyle kept him in immense physical condition – just watch him leap for a header, or even take a look at his social media photos – Ronaldo’s movement and work-rate off the ball had somewhat diminished over time. His pace was still there, as he showed on his second United debut when he was clocked at 32.5km/h at the age of 36.
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But United’s then-manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer had built a team around pace, constant movement in attack, and a disciplined, hard-working defensive press. The new Ronaldo simply didn’t suit that approach. His failure to press – ranking as one of the worst of the Premier League forwards last seasons in that regard – unbalanced the team and disrupted the defensive organisation. To get the most out of Ronaldo, Solskjaer was forced to compromise and adapt his side around the superstar striker. It meant shifting Mason Greenwood to the flanks, and therefore Paul Pogba to a more central role – one which often left defensive frailties. Bruno Fernandes, who had been United’s stand-out player before Ronaldo’s arrival, suddenly expended all his energy covering for Ronaldo’s defensive frailties, leaving him ineffective and lacking spark in offence.
Ronaldo kept up his end of the bargain, scoring 18 times in 30 Premier League appearances last season. But forced to field an unbalanced side and compromise his tactical approach, Solskjaer lost his job mid-season. His temporary replacement, Ralf Rangnick, similarly struggled to integrate the Portuguese striker effectively.
United finished the season in sixth with their worst defensive record since 1978-79, and their worst points tally since 1989-90.
Ronaldo had outlasted two managers who failed to answer the core conundrum of how to effectively deploy the goal machine and find balance in the side. But after watching United slump to their worst-ever Premier League season, the player wanted out – and little surprise. United showed no signs they were capable of challenging for the league title this season, while Ronaldo’s chief aim – the Champions League – was a competition Man United would not even compete in.
Super-agent Jorge Mendes hit the phones – and private jets – on a mission to convince Europe’s elite to fork out for Ronaldo. He tried Premier League rivals, like Chelsea. He broached a return to Juventus, or back to Real Madrid where Ronaldo had brought unprecedented European success. But the interest wasn’t there. Mendes was forced to aim lower: Borussia Dortmund instead of Bayern Munich, Atletico Madrid instead of Real. As the months dragged on and desperation set in, a return to Ronaldo’s native Portugal was even mooted.
But the interest never became concrete. Chelsea’s new owner Todd Boehly had been keen, but was overruled by manager Thomas Tuchel who foresaw the same problems that brought Solskjaer undone. For the other sides, those same tactical considerations were just one problem. The biggest concern was his wages: Initial reports suggested he signed for £480,000 a week, comfortably the club’s top earner. That was reportedly slashed by 25 per cent – like all United players – after they failed to qualify for the Champions League after last season’s failure.
But £360k a week ($33m AUD) is still an astronomical figure, especially for a 37-year-old. And for everyone but the richest few, it was a non-starter.
There were concerns raised, too, about Ronaldo’s attitude. He had showed plenty of frustration at teammates and managers during United’s dismal 2021-22 campaign. Then, due to family reasons, he refused to travel for United’s pre-season trip which included a visit to Australia. In late July, he walked out of Old Trafford long before full-time after being substituted at half-time in his first pre-season appearance under Erik Ten Hag.
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Ronaldo’s sky-high wages and ego were standing in the way of rival clubs pursuing a transfer as much as perceived problems around tactics. United’s hierarchy still believed Ronaldo offered value – in terms of publicity as much as on the pitch – and were holding out for the kind of transfer fee that seemed deeply unlikely.
But it’s unclear whether Ten Hag genuinely believed he could fix the Ronaldo conundrum. Publicly, he was full of praise for the star striker. But the renowned disciplinarian made clear that pre-season was vital to developing his tactics and line-ups for the upcoming campaign – and Ronaldo had missed a very large chunk of preseason. Ten Hag began the campaign with Ronaldo an increasingly peripheral figure, appearing more frequently off the bench than on the starting teamsheet. And on the pitch, United seem to perform better without Ronaldo than with him.
In 12 games this season, Ronaldo has scored twice, including once in eight Premier League appearances. In a goalless draw with Tottenham last weekend, he started only to be dragged off – and watch his replacement Marcus Rashford impress before missing a golden opportunity to win the match.
Rashford started the following match against Tottenham, as Ronaldo watched from the sidelines as his teammates delivered arguably their best performance of the season without him.
When Ten Hag asked him to go onto the field in the 87th minute, the 2-0 win already done and dusted, Ronaldo refused. He walked down the tunnel and was out of Old Trafford before the full-time whistle – but that didn’t put any damper on his teammates’ celebrations in the locker room afterwards.
Ten Hag had little choice but to discipline Ronaldo and responded by exiling him from the first-team squad ahead of this weekend’s blockbuster with Chelsea. The manager reportedly has the full support of the United bosses, who are now considering letting him leave for free in January’s transfer window. Ronaldo, meanwhile, took to social media in a half-hearted apology, claiming the heat of the moment got to him. Nevertheless, an ugly exit appears increasingly certain.
For Ronaldo, the prospect of warming the bench in the month before his final World Cup must feel like a knife twisted in the gut. It is hardly an ideal preparation, and one wonders whether more outbursts should be expected.
For United’s head honchos, the marketing value of their iconic number seven is greatly diminished if he does not play serious minutes. His extortionate wage is another reason to let him leave – and Ten Hag has shown the rest of his side are more than capable of delivering without the Portuguese star. Such is Ronaldo’s wage that United could release him from his contract, sign a player on half his wages for the rest of the season, and pocket around five million pounds – or splash that on a transfer fee to bolster their squad for the run home.
The failure to find a new home for Ronaldo in the off-season is becoming more and more regrettable, a costly mistake with both parties to blame – and both now looking for a way out.
Had they listened to the warnings a year ago, things might have been very different.
