September 11, (THEWILL) – Ole Gunnar Solskjaer fulfilled the wishes of the throngs of Manchester United fans who will fill the stands at Old Trafford in person and those who will follow the Matchday three home tie against Newcastle by other means when he named Cristiano in the starting lineup on Saturday.
It is Ronaldo’s second debut for United and comes after the five-time Ballon d’Or winner completed a late return to the club from Juventus two weeks ago for an initial fee of £12.9million (€15m) on a two-year deal with the option of a third.
As THEWILL reported, Ronaldo was released early from international duty, which allowed him to arrive in England, observe the mandatory COVID-19 period of isolation and report to United’s training ground for the first time on Tuesday where he immediately began training with the team the next day.
After 12 years, since he left Old Trafford to Real Madrid, the football icon will be in the starting XI in a Premiership game again for another record in his epically record-breaking professional career as it represents the longest gap between appearances in the competition’s history.
THEWILL reported Solskjaer confirmation on Friday that Ronaldo would at the very least play as a substitute, but in the absence of Edinson Cavani, who allowed the Portugal captain to take back the number seven jersey, it was near-inevitable that Ronaldo was guaranteed a starting place.
His first spell in the Red Devils saw the Portuguese legend score 118 goals in 292 games for United in the six-year period of his meteoric rise at Old Trafford before 2019 when Real came calling.
As one of the finest strikers to maintain a high level of performance untouched by age, he demonstrated that he still had it in him when he almost single handedly saved Portugal from defeat against the Republic of Ireland with two late goals to establish himself as the highest international goal-scorer in men’s football.
The club at Manchester and their teeming fans are once again dreaming of silverware after near-finishes have meant the club has been without any trophies or titles to speak of since Jose Mourinho won the Europa with the team in May, 2017.
With his goals that are sure to come, they can definitely dream again. However, these goals could impact the numbers that compatriot Bruno Fernandes used to control since joining Old Trafford from half season in January, 2020. That notwithstanding, United fans will be eager to see the two Portugal team-mates link up for the first time at club level.
The belief is that Fernandes will be the main danger supporting Ronaldo in attack, while the in-form Mason Greenwood and Jadon Sancho can provide threat from the flanks to give them the sort of performances worthy of their status as title contenders this season with their famous number seven calling the shots beginning with Newcastle.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
