Cristiano Ronaldo is heading back to Manchester United, the team who turned him into a global superstar.
In a fast-moving deal that stunned the world of soccer, Ronaldo on Friday secured a return to Old Trafford — a day after telling Juventus that he no longer wanted to play for the Italian club.
“Welcome back, Cristiano,” United wrote on Twitter.
Photo: AP
Within minutes, the club’s official Web site had crashed.
Ronaldo is 36 years old, a completely different player to the skinny, outrageously skillful 17-year-old winger who first arrived at United from Sporting Lisbon in 2003 with a box of tricks, but little end product.
In the following six years, he scored 118 goals in 292 appearances and swiftly became one of the most fearsome strikers in the world, winning the first of his five FIFA world player of the year awards.
Man United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer knows that all too well.
He was once a teammate of Ronaldo.
“He is the greatest player of all time, definitely,” Solskjaer said after Ronaldo’s return was sealed.
Ronaldo is to join for a fee of 15 million euros (US$17. 7 million), with 8 million euros in add-ons. The transfer is subject to agreement of personal terms, visa and a medical examination.
Ronaldo returning to United was not long in the making.
Indeed, the team did not expect him to leave Juventus in this transfer window and only made a move when it became clear he would be available.
On Thursday, Ronaldo met with Juventus manager Massimiliano Allegri and told him that he wanted to leave the club where he had spent the past three years after joining from Madrid.
He had one year left on his contract.
By Friday, Ronaldo was boarding a private jet from Turin to Lisbon, in his native Portugal, and saying that the world would soon be made aware of his next move.
By then, United were the clear front-runner after fierce rival Manchester City pulled out of the running for his signature.
“Everyone at the club looks forward to welcoming Cristiano back to Manchester,” United said in a brief statement.
Ronaldo soon took to Instagram, saying that he gave his “heart and soul for Juventus.”
“I’ll always love the city of Turin until my final days,” he wrote.
He never won the Champions League with Juventus, like he did with United in 2008 and four times with Madrid, but was the top scorer in Serie A for the past two seasons and scored 101 goals in 134 appearances.
“In the end, we can all look back and realize that we achieved great things, not all that we wanted, but still, we wrote a pretty beautiful story together,” Ronaldo said.
He is expected to make his second United debut at home against Newcastle United in the Premier League on Sept. 11.
On the field yesterday, Manchester City thrashed Arsenal 5-0.
Additional reporting by staff writer
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