In a move that proved to be the cherry on top of a brilliant transfer window, Cristiano Ronaldo returned to Manchester United after 12 years.
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After it became clear that Ronaldo was making his way out of Turin, he was quickly linked with a move to Manchester City. The Sheikh Mansour-owned club were clearly the favorites to sign the 36 year old.
However, in a deal that seemingly materialized in an instant, City’s neighbors Manchester United swooped the Portuguese national and announced his signing immediately. It was a huge win for United fans who, just a day earlier, were clearly upset over Ronaldo’s apparent “betrayal”.
Ronaldo’s return to the Premier League was generally welcomed by fans of most of the other teams too, except those of Man City of course, who have now missed out on Lionel Messi and CR7 in the same window.
Although the reported of fee of 20-25 million Euros seems quite reasonable for a player of his stature, the American owners (Glazer family) apparently needed some extra convincing before bringing Ronaldo home.
According to Duncan Castles, agent Jorge Mendes actually had to convince the Glazers that signing Ronaldo was worthwhile. Reportedly, Mendes argued that Tom Brady, who plays for the Glazers’ NFL team, just won a Super Bowl despite his age.
Mendes negotiated that if things worked out for the Bucs and Brady, then Ronaldo and Man United could be successful too.
PL Fans Mock Glazers for Reluctance to Sign Cristiano Ronaldo
For any Americans reading, the Glazers generally have a bad rep in England. From the leveraged buyout in 2005, to years of mismanagement, to the European Super League fiasco, they aren’t exactly fan-favorites.
The Glazers, being Americans, are seen as rather disconnected from the sport in the eyes of most United fans. So when the news of the Tom Brady-Cristiano Ronaldo comparisons broke, it was only a matter of time before Twitter had their say.
