Twelve years after first leaving Old Trafford, Cristiano Ronaldo is back at Manchester United, having agreed to a sensational return.

It is a move that has been talked about again and again in the time since his departure to Real Madrid in 2009, but without ever really coming close to happening. There was speculation in 2013 and again in 2018, but finally in 2021, United and Ronaldo are preparing for a spectacular reunion.

In the span of 48 hours, and with less than a week remaining in the summer transfer window, Ronaldo told Juventus of his desire to leave the club and, appeared set to join Pep Guardiola at Manchester City. Then, a flurry of text messages and phone calls led to Ronaldo choosing his former club over their most immediate rivals.

After six years at United from 2003-2009 — 292 appearances, 118 goals, three Premier League titles and a Champions League triumph in 2008 — Ronaldo made no secret of his desire to join Real Madrid for a then-world record fee of £80 million. But he has remained a fan favourite at United and was celebrated as a returning hero on visits back to Manchester with Real Madrid and Juventus. He even refused to celebrate when his goal for Real Madrid at Old Trafford helped Real Madrid knock United out of the Champions League in 2013 — Sir Alex Ferguson’s last European tie before his retirement.

Ronaldo still calls Ferguson his « football father » and the pair have stayed in regular contact over the years, with Ferguson greeting him after Portugal won the European Championships in 2016. Ferguson played his part in ensuring the five-time Ballon d’Or winner signed for United after deciding to leave Juventus this summer, just when it looked like Ronaldo could do the unthinkable and join rivals Manchester City. It also had long been the ambition of executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward to bring him back.

How Manchester United did it

United are not hiding the fact that they didn’t begin the summer transfer window with plans to sign Ronaldo. ESPN reported in June, before the start of the European Championships, that Ronaldo’s representatives (led by his agent, Jorge Mendes) were gauging interest from some of Europe’s top clubs, including United, Manchester City, Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain, if — and, at that point, it was a big « if » — he left Juventus.

The answer from United at the time was a polite no, partly because of a belief that he would decide to see out the final year of his contract in Turin, and partly because of the numbers involved — especially for a player who, while at the peak of his fitness, turns 37 in February — but also because their priorities in the transfer market were elsewhere.

Solskjaer predicted Cristiano Ronaldo return in 2019Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer suggested Cristiano Ronaldo would return when talking to children in April 2019.

Mendes got a similar answer from Paris Saint-Germain, Real Madrid and Manchester City. Then came Harry Kane’s announcement, made on Wednesday, that he would not be moving to City this summer and instead would remain at Tottenham for at least another year. With no prospect of signing their top target, City began looking into other options and before long, Mendes was back on the phone.

The response this time was more positive than it had been in June and with Ronaldo finally making a decision to leave Juventus, even missing a training session last week, City began looking at how to make a deal work. There was a reluctance to meet the financial demands of both Juventus and Ronaldo — he earned €31m net and bonuses per year at Juventus, who also asked for around €28m in a transfer fee to avoid a capital loss on the deal that brought Ronaldo from Real Madrid in 2018 — and Pep Guardiola also had reservations about how he would fit in on and off the pitch.

Dan Thomas is joined by Craig Burley, Shaka Hislop and others to bring you the latest highlights and debate the biggest storylines. Stream on ESPN+ (U.S. only).

Still, on Thursday, City had agreed to keep talking to Mendes, but by then, things were already changing. As the prospect of Ronaldo joining City became more and more real and United fans began expressing their outrage, his former United teammates Rio Ferdinand and Patrice Evra, Portugal teammate Bruno Fernandes, and Ferguson all got involved. For their part, Ferdinand and Ferguson told him simply « you cannot sign for City. » Phone calls were made and WhatsApp messages sent to Ronaldo — Evra later posted a portion of his conversation on Twitter — while Woodward began talking to Mendes.

On Thursday night, Mendes received a proposal from United. On Friday morning, conversations with Juventus began and United assured the Italian club they were prepared to pay a fee, something City had so far resisted. There were conversations about players possibly moving in the other direction but eventually a transfer fee of €15 million, with another €8m in add-ons, was agreed.

When United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s weekly news conference began at 1:15 p.m. UK time on Friday, he was already confident Ronaldo was coming back. Each question about Ronaldo was batted away by Solskjaer until, right at the end, he said pointedly « he knows what we feel about him and if he is going to move, he knows we are here. »

The cat was out of the bag. City sources insist they pulled out well before Guardiola began his own news conference at 1:30 p.m. UK time, but official word didn’t filter through until later in the afternoon. City remain unhappy with Mendes’ role in the saga with some believing he used interest from the Etihad to force United into acting.

Sources close to Ronaldo admit he considered a move to City, but once United revealed their hand, his mind was made up and that he had even taken a small pay cut to make it happen.

Sources have also told ESPN that the pitch made to Ronaldo, done in part by former teammate and now technical director Darren Fletcher, was about « completing unfinished business at Old Trafford and writing a new chapter rather than trying to relive the past. » And at 4:50 p.m. UK on Friday, the official announcement came through to cap off a remarkable 24 hours. (Bruno later joked he was an « agent » once the news was public.)

Dan Thomas is joined by Craig Burley, Shaka Hislop and others to bring you the latest highlights and debate the biggest storylines. Stream on ESPN+ (U.S. only).

« 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, » it read. « Everyone at the club looks forward to welcoming Cristiano back to Manchester. » United’s announcement post on Instagram is the most liked post by a sports team ever, in any sport.

Even when, to outsiders at least, City seemed destined to sign Ronaldo, those within Old Trafford knew that the player’s deep-rooted affection for United would give them a chance of persuading him to choose red rather than blue. Ronaldo has maintained contact with many from his time at United, principally Ferdinand and Evra, but he also has retained relationships with members of staff behind the scenes. And one staffer has told ESPN of a moment in Turin, following United’s 2-1 Champions League win against Juventus in November 2018, when his ongoing respect for United became clear.

« We had just beaten Juve with two late goals and Jose Mourinho, the manager at the time, went onto the pitch and started to goad the Juventus fans by cupping his ear to the noise, » the United source said. « A lot of the players were pissed off with [Mourinho] because it seemed like he was making the win about him rather than the team and Cristiano was furious with him, too.

« He walked past and said, ‘[Mourinho] doesn’t have the class to manage Manchester United. »’

« We’ve always known that Ronaldo loved his time at Old Trafford, but I think what people outside the club don’t appreciate is how much he still cares, and always has, about what happens here. »

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Since assuming his role as executive vice-chairman in 2013, following the retirement of chief executive David Gill, Woodward has made it his business to get close to the game’s so-called « super-agents. »

Gill, perhaps influenced by Ferguson’s deep-rooted disdain for player representatives, always kept them at arm’s length, treating many with suspicion and trusting only those he had grown to know and respect during a decade in the job. Woodward had no such inhibitions, and he worked hard to cultivate relationships with the likes of Mino Raiola — adviser of Paul Pogba, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Erling Haaland, among others — and Mendes, Ronaldo’s long-standing representative.

On one occasion, while enjoying drinks with journalists before United’s Champions League tie against Olympiakos in Athens in February 2014, Woodward’s phone rang, with the screen clearly showing the caller’s name. Rather than quickly diverting the call or moving away to take it privately, Woodward instead made sure everyone knew who was calling him — « Ha! It’s Jorge Mendes, » he said.