Pass the sick bucket. Ever since it was announced that Cristiano Ronaldo would be returning to Manchester United. The football world has gone into a frenzied state at the idea that the five-time Ballon d’Or winner would once again be wearing the famous red, white and black colours of the Red Devils. According to the betting odds, it looked heavily likely that Manchester City were going to capture the brand known as “CR7” and it was rumoured that Ronaldo’s preference was the blue half of the city, although the powers-that-be at the Etihad Stadium decided against signing the 36-year-old and United could instead set the wheels in motion which led to capturing an Old Trafford legend on transfer deadline day. Did Manchester United NEED Ronaldo? The Ronaldo 7 football shirts have been selling like hot cakes at the United Megastore as punters look to grab a slice of history for shelling out for a ridiculously expensive football shirt with the player’s name and number on the back. From a commercial point-of-view, one can understand why Manchester United decided to “bring Cristiano home” and there won’t be any mention of the fact this wasn’t his first choice. However, the bottom line is that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer didn’t need the headache of having this player in his squad. Perhaps the Norwegian doesn’t have a lot of power at the north-west club. And he’s certainly someone who will always tow the party line in these sort of situations. But Ronaldo arriving means that other attacking players are going to have more limited opportunities. Greenwood, Cavani and Rashford Set to Play Second String Under Solskjaer, Manchester United play with four at the back and then two defensive midfielders. With Paul Pogba likely to occupy one of these positions despite his bright performance in a more attacking role against Leeds. It basically leaves four spots available and we’ve got Ronaldo “competing” for a place. Along with Mason Greenwood, Edinson Cavani, Jadon Sancho, Bruno Fernandes, Anthony Martial, Jesse Lingard and Marcus Rashford. Perhaps the idea was to offload Martial and Lingard in the summer and no deal could be done. Although that is a lot of attacking players to try and shoehorn into the team. Even with Champions League commitments meaning that having plenty of squad depth is an obvious advantage. While all the noises have been pro-Cristiano, there must surely be grievances on the part of certain players who are going to have limited game time. It is probably a good time to place some bets for the season, check out our Football betting sites section for some recommended partners to consider. Ronaldo Held Juventus Back Despite Pilfering Lots of Goals Just because Cristiano Ronaldo scored a typical bucketload of goals for Juventus during his time in Italy. It doesn’t mean that he always had a positive influence on the team’s performance or success. The Turin side didn’t come close to challenging for the Champions League with CR7 in the ranks. And last season saw Juve dip quite significantly when finishing well off the pace set by Internazionale. Juventus lost to Ajax, Porto and Lyon in the Champions League while Ronaldo was at the club. And they never went away further than the last eight of the competition with the Portuguese. While the final season of him being there saw the player hold Juve back from a technical point-of-view. As players would look to seek him out rather than play a more flowing style. Will Ronaldo Be Another Alexis Sanchez For United? Alexis Sanchez was a notable flop after Manchester United signed him from Arsenal. Although we should expect Ronaldo to fill his boots and score plenty of goals. Finding the net hasn’t really been a huge problem area for the Red Devils under Solskjaer. There was a strong amount of attacking weaponry before his arrival and perhaps his capture just muddies the waters. Ronaldo isn’t going to want to play second fiddle given how much he has achieved during his career. It will be interesting to see how his team-mates are able to gel with a player who will demand the ball. Indeed, it’s notable that Bruno Fernandes has struggled to shine in the Portugal team alongside his new Manchester United team-mate.
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