Ronaldo returned to Manchester. But within a few hours, his destiny changed from Manchester City, which was unanimously recognized by the outside world, to his old club Manchester United. How did all this happen?
Ferguson/Solskjaer/players/all contributed to this transfer
The affection for Manchester United is undoubtedly one of the important reasons for Ronaldo to go home. Finding a partner who loves each other is a big motivation for Ronaldo's transfer. Some media said that for two seasons, Juventus has been trying to get rid of Ronaldo. From the moment Ronaldo realized this, he wanted to leave. At Real Madrid, he also left after feeling the lack of attention. The "Times" revealed that in the negotiations with Manchester City, Ronaldo felt that Manchester City did not pay much attention to himself.
Only Manchester United, although late to join the transfer negotiations, made Cristiano Ronaldo feel endless love.
Manchester United officially announced on Friday that they had negotiated with Juventus on Ronaldo’s deal, and the transfer can be completed only after personal terms, visas and medical examinations are settled. Relevant sources disclosed that Manchester United and Ronaldo’s first direct contact occurred on Tuesday night. At that time, the outside world did not know about it, and the rumors in the next two days have been focused on Manchester City. Nowadays, various media have widely reported that Sir Ferguson's phone call to Ronaldo played a key role. Ferguson is one of the few people in the world whom Ronaldo respects sincerely. The two "feel like father and son", and the Portuguese superstar is grateful to Ferguson: after Cristiano Ronaldo had a conflict with van Nistelrooij, Ferguson chose to stand on his side; and after Cristiano Ronaldo's father died, Cristiano Ronaldo received Ferguson's kind care.
After retirement, Ferguson has always advocated that Manchester United sign Ronaldo back. The most recent attempt was 2 years ago, when Cristiano Ronaldo and Surrey’s cooperation was not very happy. Ferguson once suggested Solskjaer to seize the opportunity. In the past few years, many of Ferguson's suggestions for Manchester United's signings have failed to meet his wishes. This time he does not want to miss another opportunity. On Thursday, he called Manchester United’s board members and Ronaldo’s agent Mendes. The good relationship between Ferguson and Mendes is of course also a plus point in facilitating the transaction.
Ferguson is definitely not fighting alone. Bringing Ronaldo home is the result of the common desire and joint efforts of many former players within Manchester United. On Thursday, when news broke that Ronaldo had agreed to join Manchester City, Solskjaer told his staff that Manchester United must act. The Manchester United coach believes that allowing the Red Devils legendary star to wear the Manchester City jersey will damage the image of Manchester United in the hearts of existing players, potential signing targets and fans. In Solskjaer's view, if Ronaldo returns to Manchester United, his outstanding professionalism will play a positive role in one of the youngest teams in the Premier League.
Solskjaer called CEO Woodward and asked about the possibility of signing Ronaldo. The call time was very short, and both parties unanimously decided to contact Juventus.
At the same time, many players who have retired at Manchester United are also contributing. This is where Wayne Rooney publicly criticized the possibility of Ronaldo joining Manchester City on Thursday night. The most active "broker" was Rio Ferdinand, who had a conversation with his former teammate Ronaldo. Ferdinand told Cristiano Ronaldo that joining Manchester City would hurt Manchester United.
Ferdinand and Woodward are very close, he helped Manchester United master some financial details, until 1:30 am on Friday, is still sending messages around to promote the progress of the transaction. Therefore, after the Manchester United official announcement, Ferdinand posted a photo on Twitter. He was slightly tired, covering his eye bags with sunglasses, and exclaimed: "What kind of 24 hours is this."
As a teammate of the Portuguese team, Bruno Fernandez also actively persuaded Ronaldo, and tweeted after the incident, and self-proclaimed "Agent Bruno" contentedly.
Guardiola confirms Ronaldo's position, Manchester City will look forward to it
Until Thursday, Manchester City looked like the only club expected to sign Ronaldo. Allegedly, Ronaldo and Guardiola had a phone call that day, and Ronaldo's role in Manchester City was determined to be a center. "Daily Telegraph" revealed that Manchester City players welcome Ronaldo to join and serve as the current arrow. Manchester City soldiers even discussed the Portuguese superstar in the training ground. As Ronaldo’s national teammate, Cancelo was also asked about Ronaldo. Luo's training habits and secrets of fitness outside the training ground.
However, on Friday afternoon, at the regular Premier League pre-match press conference, Guardiola's wording when talking about Ronaldo seemed a bit subtle, "I can't say too much. Kane has announced that he will stay at Tottenham, an unparalleled club. . And Cristiano is a Juventus player, three or four days before the transfer window, anything can happen. I think that several players-including Ronaldo, Messi is the other-decide where they play. It's them. Cristiano Ronaldo will decide where to play, not Manchester City or me. Now, things look very, very far away."
West Ham United coach Moyes was also asked about Ronaldo at the press conference. Moyes smiled, "If he wants to stay in London for a year, you can call me."
It doesn't matter what Moyes said, but why does Guardiola think Ronaldo is "very, very far away"? In fact, in hindsight, this statement has been too positive: at 10:30 on Friday morning, Ronaldo has made a verbal promise to Manchester United to return to Old Trafford.
Therefore, at the Premier League pre-match conference at 1:15 pm, Solskjaer actively talked about Cristiano Ronaldo, "Everyone who has been a teammate with Cristiano Ronaldo loves him. We have always had a good exchange. , B Fei is also communicating with him. Cristiano Ronaldo knows what we think of him. If he leaves Juventus, he knows we are here. Cristiano Ronaldo is a Manchester United legend and I think he is the best player in history. I'm very lucky to be with him Have been teammates, let us see what happens."
From 2003 to 2007, Solskjaer and Cristiano Ronaldo worked as teammates at Manchester United for 4 years and witnessed his growth from a young rookie to a super star. In the 2007-08 season, Solskjaer, who had just retired, became a Manchester United assistant, mainly responsible for training forwards, and Ronaldo was naturally one of them.
Mendes just used Manchester City?
In the past year or two, Cristiano Ronaldo is not very happy at Juventus, it has long been an open secret. At the beginning of this year, Paris Saint-Germain was invited to make an offer to Ronaldo, but Paris is focused on Messi, and the relationship between President Herife and Mendes is not as close as it was when he first took charge of Paris. From beginning to end, Paris did not have much interest in Ronaldo.
Although President Agnelli and other Juventus executives repeatedly declared that they would not sell Ronaldo, Ronaldo is still involved in transfer rumors this summer. Not long ago, there appeared a series of soap operas in which Ronaldo hoped to return to Real Madrid, Ancelotti wanted to sign Ronaldo for Real Madrid, Ancelotti denied the rumors, and Ronaldo refuted the rumors. The insider said: "C Ronaldo is eager to leave Turin, he wants to find a happier place." Real Madrid has long known that Ronaldo thought going to Italy was a "huge mistake".
However, the clever Ancelotti knows what Florentino is playing. After returning to the Bernabeu, Ancelotti learned in the first meeting with Florentino that Real Madrid's only goal this summer is Mbappé, and no other striker is considered. For Mbappe, Real Madrid asked Ancelotti to accept the loss of Ramos and Varane's departure to raise funds and free up cap space. Moreover, Ancelotti knows very well that Florentino had previously let Ronaldo who tried to return to Real Madrid closed the door.
Paris and Real Madrid did not accept Ronaldo, and Mendes found Manchester City about 10 days ago. At first, Manchester City also refused, because they focused on the introduction of Kane. At that time, Manchester City still believed that they could get the England captain before closing the window. Last Thursday (19th), the voice from inside Manchester City was still "the door is closed to Ronaldo".
However, Mendes has a deep network in Manchester City. Players such as Edsson, Ruben Dias, Bernardo Silva, Cancelo and others in the team are all his clients, and he operated Diaz last year. In a deal with Otamendi, Manchester City owed Mendes a lot of favor.
On Monday, Ronaldo’s transfer to Manchester City began. On Tuesday evening, Mendes met with representatives of Manchester City in Paris. Manchester City are beginning to be optimistic about the deal. Ronaldo even told Juventus teammates that he is expected to join Manchester City on Friday morning.
However, there are still different voices within Manchester City: Guardiola was not interested in Ronaldo a week ago. Does the team really need him? Manchester City has two reservations about Ronaldo: one is whether its technical characteristics match the team, and the other is whether its high salary will affect the stability of the locker room.
However, the Manchester City executives are not as interested in Kane as Guardiola. After the talks with Tottenham, the Abu Dhabi consortium has a positive attitude towards Ronaldo. After signing Messi by the Qatari management in Paris, Manchester City's UAE boss was quite shaken, especially considering that Manchester City has been one of Messi's most likely potential next homes in recent years. The relationship between the UAE and Qatar is still tense, and it is not difficult to imagine a comparison mentality. Manchester City executives are optimistic about the positive effects Ronaldo can bring to the club in terms of business and influence.
But in the end, Manchester City was in vain. For Mendes, after shaking Manchester City this time, his relationship with Manchester City will inevitably become more subtle. Even cab suspected that he was just using Manchester City to force Manchester United to sit at the negotiating table. After all, Mendes has been trying to bring Ronaldo back to Manchester United all summer, but Manchester United's management refused to make a move for a long time. They were worried about becoming a pawn and also worried that Juventus would not let them go.
What does Manchester United expect from Ronaldo?
On Wednesday, Mendes flew to Turin. In a meeting with Nedved and other Juventus executives on Thursday morning, Mendes clarified Ronaldo’s desire to leave the team. Juventus was upset about Ronaldo’s showdown 5 days before the transfer window closed, emphasizing that the transfer can only be carried out in the way Juventus wanted. Ronaldo participated in the public training that day, but was the first to leave after training and emptied his closet.
Coincidentally, on Thursday this day, Raiola also appeared at Juventus headquarters, the main purpose is to discuss his client, Juventus youth team 21-year-old Brazilian defender Wesley's future. During the talks, the two sides mentioned Everton striker Moise Keane, the Juventus will likely return to the Bianconeri and become a replacement for Ronaldo.
On Friday morning, Ronaldo spent 40 minutes saying goodbye to the team. Coach Allegri confirmed at the press conference that Ronaldo has made it clear that he has no training and will not participate in the weekend league. At that time, all insiders knew that Ronaldo's destination was Manchester United.
In 2018, Juventus signed Ronaldo with a price of 117 million euros. Now, his 4-year contract with an annual salary of 31 million euros after tax has entered the final year. After calculating the amortization, its book value is still 28.8 million. Juventus needs a copy. Quotes in this range to avoid book losses. Manchester City initially did not intend to pay any transfer fees, but after negotiations have agreed to pay. With Manchester United's strong intervention, Manchester City no longer has to worry about this issue.
The negotiations between Woodward and Agnelli went smoothly, and the two formed a good friendship in the process of planning the super league. At 4:53 pm on Friday, Manchester United officials announced that they had negotiated a deal with Juventus. It is said that the initial transfer fee is 15 million euros, plus 8 million floating clauses, Ronaldo will sign a contract for 2 years.
Ronaldo’s negotiations with Manchester United were also full of sincerity. Ronaldo accepted a lower salary than at Juventus. Of course, the rumored pre-tax weekly salary of 480,000 pounds is still enough to become the highest salary in the Premier League (previously Manchester midfielder De Bruyne’s 385,000).
Allegedly, Manchester United players are generally excited about Ronaldo joining. They believe that Ronaldo can improve the level of the team, and the young players will achieve better development in the experience of Ronaldo’s superb skills and outstanding professionalism. Another reason for the competition lies in the hidden danger of Manchester United's center position: Cavani insists on representing Uruguay in international competitions in September, and will be quarantined after returning to the UK. Manchester United doubts whether Cavani is worth entrusting; and Martial has always been unconvincing, and once again underperformed against Southampton last week; as for Greenwood, Solskjaer’s public statements and actual practices seem to indicate that he does not believe that Greenwood is the ideal position for the center forward. Candidate.
The Glazer family is also full of expectations for Ronaldo. They have had similar successful experiences in the rugby field. In 2020, Glazer's Tampa Bay Buccaneers signed Tom Brady, 42 years old at the time, and subsequently won the Super Bowl victory. The insider said: "As Manchester United bosses, they must prove that they can add to the club's glory, and they must show the attitude of'we are competitive and cannot let Ronaldo go to Manchester City'."
Can the 36-year-old Ronaldo afford such high hopes? Manchester United is full of optimism. They believe that Cristiano Ronaldo can maintain good condition for at least two years. They believe that bringing Ronaldo home is not only about feelings, but also about writing a new chapter.
