Ronaldo returns to Manchester United, did the club make the right move?

Back at the scene. The return of the lost son. For Red Devils fans, Cristiano Ronaldo’s comeback must be a dream come true. the 36-year-old Portuguese has once again shown that he is not afraid of big challenges and wants to shine in the Premier League again and prove that age is just a number. However, there are several reasons why Ronaldo’s return may not be as great a decision as it first appears. What are they specifically?

Ronaldo is still on a high, does this bring down the possible arrival of Haaland?

The Portuguese, even at 36, is still one of the best players in the world. He’s maturing like a wine. At 30, he has better numbers in the national team than he had in the past. He’s scored 59 goals in his last 62 games.

Before that, he scored 52 goals in 118 games. In the last 3 seasons in the league he has scored at least 20 goals. Clear evidence that Ronaldo’s performance is not stagnating, quite the contrary.

The star Portuguese is certainly capable of similar stats in the Premier League. His killer instinct is lethal. Great chances should be prepared by Bruno Fernandes, Ronaldo will probably kick penalties as well.

So the 20 league goals mark is certainly surpassable. But he’s already 36 years old. He can be useful for Manchester United for the next 2-3 years. Then he will be almost 40 and stagnation and decline in performance will catch up with him too.

Now we come to the heart of the matter. Midfielder Erling Haaland is 21 years old and already one of the best strikers in the world, his stats are diabolical. Due to a buyout clause in his contract, the Norwegian cannonballer will be available for around €80 million next summer. This will attract the interest of a lot of top clubs and Manchester United was also supposed to be a big suitor.

However, this is likely to fall with the arrival of Ronaldo. Neither Haaland nor Ronaldo would accept the number two position, and that would make mischief in the cabin. Edinson Cavani will probably leave the Red Devils next year. Ronaldo within the next 2-3 years. Haaland is not up for grabs, Kylian Mbappé will already be scoring goals probably for Real Madrid.

After Ronaldo leaves, the English team will be without a quality goalscorer. It is quite possible that no promising cannonballer will be available in the market. The promising striker Mason Greenwood looks great. The Red Devils alumnus has gone on to score 3 goals in 3 games this season.

However, the question is whether he will be good enough to be the number one forward anymore. Also, his possible departure is not ruled out due to the huge competition in the squad. In terms of the future and some perspective, the arrival of Ronaldo is a pretty risky move.

A successful transfer, but the weak spot in the line-up remains

Manchester United have strengthened brilliantly over the summer period. It was also a necessity as they needed to improve the squad in some positions. Such as at full-back. Apart from Maguire, there is no other quality stopper in the squad. This was solved by the arrival of Raphael Varane from Real Madrid. So the stopper position is solved. The Maguire-Varane duo is very strong.

The English team has also acquired some great players for the attack. With the arrival of Jadon Sancho and Ronaldo, their offense has taken on a whole new dimension. The Rashford-Ronaldo-Sancho attacking trio can be truly killer, add to that the creative Fernandes and you have the best attack in the league. Moreover, Cavani, Greenwood or Martial can still come off the bench. On paper, United’s offense looks fantastic.

But Manchester United have failed to solve one position. That’s the midfielder position. Here coach Solskjaer has Nemanja Matic, Scott McTominay and Fred at his disposal, which is not super quality. Defensive midfielders should be the link between the defensive and offensive lines. That’s not really ideally met by this trio. So a midfield reinforcement would definitely still be useful. Failure to address this position could cost the club dearly.

Ronaldo + current Manchester United = mutual symbiosis?

The Portuguese has long since ceased to be the same player he was during his first engagement in a Manchester United jersey. Back then, he was tearing up the opposition’s defence with his speed and amazing tackles. That is no longer to be expected.

Ronaldo will no longer play on the wing but mainly as a top striker. He will rely on his killer instinct. He will be extremely agile in the penalty area and should show his great eye for goal.

It’s foolish to think he’ll be a pressing machine. Don’t expect him to be much help defensively. The rest of the team will have to adapt to that. If it were the other way around, it would be the beginning of the end.

Coach Solskjaer has put in place a system that works and the team has gradually got used to it. With the arrival of Ronaldo, that will fall away and further adjustment will be necessary. Which can certainly cause problems and it’s not impossible that it will take a while for everything to fall into place.

Source: Manchester United