Manchester United has confirmed that they have reached an agreement with Juventus to resign Ronaldo after 12 years. The deal has been agreed on for an initial £13 million (€15m/$18m) with add-ons of up to £7m (€8m/$9m).
In a statement issued on Manchester United website, the news was confirmed where it was said: “Manchester United is delighted to confirm that the club has reached agreement with Juventus for the transfer of Cristiano Ronaldo, subject to agreement of personal terms, visa and medical.”
The 36-year-old’s departure from Juventus was confirmed by boss Max Allegri on Friday, as he told a press conference that Ronaldo told him he had “no intention” of playing for the club again.
“Yesterday, speaking with Cristiano, he told me that he has no intention to stay at Juventus and for this reason, he will not be called up tomorrow and he didn’t train this morning. I’m absolutely not disappointed, because Cristiano took his own decision. He was here for three years, he gave his contribution, he put himself at Juventus’ disposal, and now he’s leaving and life goes on.” Allegri said.
Ronaldo is all set to undergo a medical in Lisbon before linking up with Portugal for their international fixtures.
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There have been some speculations on the number Ronaldo will get to wear for the 2021/22 session once he rejoins Manchester United. Ronaldo used to play with the number 7 and according to Ferdinand, Ronaldo will get his number back as the current holder of the number seven shirt Edinson Cavani has given it back to Ronaldo.
Ronaldo has earned $120 million in the past year, according to a Forbes estimate, making him the third highest-paid athlete in the world, coming in just after boxer Conor McGregor and Ronaldo’s rival, Lionel Messi. He became the first athlete to exceed $1 billion in career earnings last year, according to a Forbes estimate.
Ronaldo scored 118 goals in 292 appearances for United between 2003 and 2009. He won three Premier League titles, the FA Cup, two League Cups and the Champions League before leaving for Real Madrid.
Reactions
Cristiano Ronaldo took to his Instagram to write a farewell post for Juventus fans where he said “Today I depart from an amazing club, the biggest in Italy and surely one of the biggest in all of Europe. I gave my heart and soul for Juventus and I’ll always love the city of Turin until my final days.
The ‘tiffosi bianconeri’ always respected me and I tried to thank that respect by fighting for them in every game, every season, every competition. 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. I will always be one of you. You are now part of my history, as I feel that I’m part of yours. Italy, Juve, Turin, tifosi bianconeri, you’ll always be in my heart.”
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The club’s Twitter handle also confirmed the news through a post that said “Welcome home, Cristiano”. Ever since the confirmation, the news has spread like wildfire, with more than 1.2 million likes on the tweet.
Welcome 𝗵𝗼𝗺𝗲, @Cristiano 🔴#MUFC | #Ronaldo
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) August 27, 2021
Following the confirmation, Manchester United’s official website also crashed due to the heavy traffic trying to access the website at the same time.
Pakistani fans have shown equal excitement as the hashtag #Ronaldo has been trending on no.1 on Twitter.
Very excited to see Cristiano Ronaldo playing in Manchester United during this season..#Cristiano 😍#ManUnited https://t.co/fdDao0eXSQ
— Faisal Jamal (@_balochfaisal) August 27, 2021
https://twitter.com/rafay_10/status/1431294959077019651