Is Cristiano Ronaldo Going Back to Manchester United?

Update: It would cost Manchester United a ton of money to bring Cristiano Ronaldo back! His buyout clause is nearly $2 billion! I just don’t think they’d want to spend that kind of money even on a player as good as Ronaldo, although they did pay quite a bit for Paul Pogba when they bought him back to Manchester from Juventus. Still though, while the $2 billion number isn’t exactly right, it would cost close to that much to bring him back right now, in a few years, when he’s near retirement, maybe they can bring him back just so he retires in a Manchester United jersey.

There’s talk these days that Cristiano Ronaldo isn’t happy with how Real Madrid’s higher-ups have handled the transfer market the past few years and he wants to go back to where he got his start at Manchester United.

Should we believe this rumor or is this just talk to sell some newspapers?

It would be quite a switch if these rumors are indeed true. Cristiano
Ronaldo, at his prime, returning to play at the Theatre of Dreams. But time fly by and soon enough Ronaldo won’t be so young anymore, so if they want to make the trade then now is probably the time to go for it.

There’s no doubt the entire English Premier League would happily welcome
Ronaldo back, the biggest name and perhaps greatest footballer in the
world today. Ronaldo’s return would sell a lot of tickets at ever single stadium he enters, home and away.

Really though, you can’t blame Ronaldo for want to leave, since some of his favorite teammates have been let go the past few years, from Arjen Robben to Ozil to Xabi to Di Maria. In fact, it seems to have been the Di Maria trade to Manchester United was the trade that really upset Ronaldo. Since Di Maria is such a dynamic and skillful player, it enables Ronaldo to get more space and time as defenders have to focus on Di Maria’s runs down the line. Plus, Di Maria provides plenty of service to Ronaldo from the flanks.

Over at SkySports, Spanish journalist Guillem Balague said that Ronaldo wants to go back to Manchester since he enjoyed his time there so much and perhaps because he wants to pay United and their fans back:

“He has this idea, I think, that at Real Madrid he is doing a job and he is working, but he enjoyed himself almost like a kid at Manchester United.

“He dreams of going back to Manchester United and Manchester United have got all the finances in place to get him.

“When will that be? It depends, of course, on a lot of things. It depends on Real Madrid and on Cristiano himself.

“I have a pretty good idea of when he wants to go. It won’t be this month or next month, but he wants to go back to Manchester United and everything is in place for him to return to Old Trafford.”

There’s no question that Manchester United would welcome Cristiano Ronaldo back with open arms, especially since they struggled this past year once Sir Alex Ferguson stepped down. Actually, I bet Ferguson has been telling Ronaldo to finish his playing career back at where he got his true start.

Finally, Real Madrid might not want Ronaldo to leave, but they also don’t want to leave when his skills or speed start to diminish, and they can’t get as much money for a Ronaldo at his peak. Still, Real Madrid would surely love to win a few more titles and another Champions League before they have to let Ronaldo go back "home" to Manchester.

Just take a look at this video of a very young Cristiano Ronaldo wearing the Manchester United red – I’m sure United fans are eager to make this rumor a reality. But it still seems more like a dream that won’t become reality anytime soon when you look at just how much it would cost and how Ronaldo isn’t a young soccer player anymore.