Cristiano Ronaldo makes a sensational return to Manchester United as he joined the Premier League club on Friday, ending his time with Serie A giants Juventus.
It will be a homecoming at Old Trafford for the 36-year-old, who scored 118 goals in 292 games for Manchester United between 2003 and 2009. The financial details of the transfer were not disclosed but British and Italian media reported United signed Ronaldo for 25 million euros.
Manchester United said in a statement: “Manchester United is delighted to confirm that the club has reached an agreement with Juventus for the transfer of Cristiano Ronaldo, subject to agreement of personal terms, visa and medical. Everyone at the club looks forward to welcoming Cristiano back to Manchester.”
The Portuguese superstar was heavily linked to a move to United’s arch-rivals Manchester City up until Friday morning, but United swooped in to bring back the five-time Ballon d’Or winner.
Ronaldo, who had joined Juventus in 2018, was under contract at Juventus until 2022 but was understood to be open to leaving the Serie A club before the current transfer window finishes. The Portuguese superstar was a surprise omission from the starting line-up in Juve’s Serie A opening game against Udinese and raised eyebrows when he left Wednesday’s training session with an arm injury. He scored 101 times in 134 games across competitions for the Italian club.
Before his time at Juventus, Ronaldo enjoyed a trophy-laden spell at La Liga giants Real Madrid, where he won four Champions League titles and two La Liga trophies in nine years.