Cristiano Ronaldo left Manchester United as a club legend when he switched to Real Madrid in a world record £ 80 million move in 2009, but many fans will soon forget his faint return 12 years later
Harry Maguire has lifted the lid on the excitement around Cristiano Ronaldo's stunning Manchester United returns and admitted his disappointment in how things finally ended.
Ronaldo made a name for himself in Old Trafford under Sir Alex Ferguson between 2003 and 2009, before he insured a world record transfer of £ 80 million to Real Madrid.
The attacker continued to excel with Los Blancos, in which two La Liga titles, four domestic trophies, four champions competitions and four of his five total balloon d'Ors created before they moved to Juventus in 2018.
United fans were pleased to hear that Ronaldo returned to Old Trafford three years later, but his last dance with the Red Devils did not go as planned. While the now 40-year-old 18 Premier League goals managed under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Ralf Rangnick in 2021/22 When United finished sixth in the table, he was reportedly dissatisfied with United's team performance.
After Ronaldo was out of grace under new head coach Erik ten Hag, Ronaldo revealed everything in an explosive interview with Piers Morgan, which led to Manchester United terminating his contract in November 2022.
Maguire admits that Ronaldo's return was a relief in the dressing room for his teammates, despite the end that a bitter taste left in the mouth.
Speaking with Rio Ferdinand on his Rio Ferdinand, the center of the center, which has been with United since 2019, presents: “I can't speak a bad word about him. It was great to have him when he walked through the door, it was just incredible.
“It was just so disappointing how it ended and how we could not find a way to perform with him in the team. He played, he scored goals, it was crazy. I don't know how much he scored that year. We were nonsense and he still scored goals, so it just shows how good he is.
“But we just couldn't find a way to … All our system under Ole was about being on the front foot, being aggressive. Press, it was like an urgent machine. We were not the best team, we actually finished third and then second. We probably didn't have the best players.
“We had some great players, I didn't get wrong, but it was all about pressing and working on a tactic and working on a form, and when to jump and to stay. And clearly came in Cristiano and we were just not good enough to adjust for him, and you could just say that he was so upset and frustrated.”
With regard to how he dealt with the process of losing Ronaldo as a senior player, he added: “We just couldn't believe what happened because we clearly finished third, and second, and then that season we brought in Sanchch [Jadon Sancho]Rafa [Raphael Varane] and Cristiano in the summer.
“And you think:” Here we are going to, like, let's win the Premier League, “and it just never happened. It just never clicked. And of course we lost ole, which was disappointing if I was honest. I feel that Ole has delivered an incredible task, I will probably speak more about OLE when I retire.
“But the way he set up us in the first two years is probably the best I felt in a team, under Ole and Kieran [McKenna] and Carras [Michael Carrick]. Those three had organized us so well. And as I said, we didn't have the best team left. We were just well coached, tactically brilliant.
“We could play, we could press. The third season I was there just didn't work, and it had nothing to do with Cristiano, because as I said, he was by far our best player. The boys and tactics around him just didn't work.”
Manchester United is currently preparing for their return to the Premier League under new boss, Ruben Amorim, who took the reins after firing Ten Hag in October. The Portuguese tacticus has passed a matte 15th place in the ranking previous term, but will hope to perform the best of his possibilities with a full summer transfer window and the preseason under the belt.
Amorim has been incredibly active in the current window and recruits the will of Matheus Cunha, Bryan Mbeumo and Benjamin Sesko to the ranks. Fans will see if a renewed team will bear its fruit on Sunday, August 17, when United Face Arsenal under the fierce lights of the Theater of Dreams.