The pros and cons of Cristiano Ronaldo’s potential Man Utd return

Posted Saturday, July 25, 2015 by squawka.com

Here we go again. The Cristiano Ronaldo to Manchester United bandwagon has started up again, just when we all thought this years summer speculation linking the Portuguese to Old Trafford had withered away once more.

According to Manchester Evening News, United are plotting a move for their former no.7 that would eclipse the £59.7 million they spent on Angel di Maria last summer.

While Sport claim that the Red Devils’ sponsorship money from Adidas will help the Old Trafford outfit secure the move.

Although rumours regarding Ronaldo’s second coming for the Red Devils have surfaced over the last couple of summers, the latest speculation may just have a bit more weight behind it.

Ronaldo is said to be unhappy with life at Real Madrid under new boss Rafa Benitez, who has reportedly made plans to build his side around Gareth Bale and move Ronaldo from his preferred left-wing berth to a central striking role. While the clubs treatment of club legends Iker Casillas and Sergio Ramos this summer, has also reportedly unsettled Ronaldo, as per the report.

Meanwhile, United are flush with cash. Despite splashing out just under £80m on players since the end of last season, the record breaking Premier League TV deal and their new sponsorship with Adidas, mean they have money to burn this summer. The likely sale of Ronaldo’s former teammate Angel di Maria to PSG will also help offset the money required to sign Ronaldo, as well as freeing up some space on the wage bill.

So having taken all the above into account, it could just happen. Should Ronaldo come back to Manchester, we expect United fans, already delighted with the clubs summer business, would go into some kind of delirious frenzy at the return of the three-time Ballon D’Or winner.

However, it would be easy to bang on about how great Ronaldo’s return would be, so we decided to look at some potential negatives that could arise from the deal as well.

The Pros

The biggest positive is simply; he is Ronaldo. This is a man, who alongside Lionel Messi, has broken pretty much every goalscoring record standing over the last few seasons.

Traditionally the benchmark to judge whether or not a striker had enjoyed a successful season, was whether they had netter 25 goals or over. As much as that still remains, its impossible to not compare every strikers goal return to Ronaldo, whose record since moving to La Liga is frankly obscene.

Since 2009, Ronaldo has scored 225 goals in 200 league games and last season was his most prolific, as he notched 48 goals in just 35 matches. To put that into perspective, Ronaldo alone scored more goals than 11 Premier League sides managed in total last term.

Manchester United of course weren’t one of those clubs, but their 62 league goals was the lowest of all sides in the top four and their top scorer Wayne Rooney netted 12, a quarter of Ronaldo’s return. Ronaldo’s top scoring season for United was the 2007-08 season, when he scored 31 goals and he has since matched or surpassed that total in five of his six-years at Real Madrid.

Consequently the most obvious advantage of his return to United would be goals, and lots of them.

His signing would be a huge statement of intent from United as they look to bounce back from their lowest finished in the Premier League era during the last two years. The return of one of, if not the best footballer in the world would transform United from being considered title challangers, to becoming title favourites. He is that good.

Another important factor is Ronaldo’s relationship with current club captain Wayne Rooney. Much has changed in the six-years since Ronaldo last played for United, but one constant during that time is Rooney, with whom he enjoyed an excellent partnership with during his first spell.

The pair were outstanding as United claimed three successive Premier League titles between 2007-2009 and a Champions League in 2008. The prospect of the duo linking up again, alongside the likes of Memphis Depay and Juan Mata, would be a frightening prospect for Premier League defences up and down the country and could help Rooney re-discover his truly top form.

United also have some excellent young attacking players and who better to learn from than one of the best to have ever played the game? Ronaldo is the consummate professional and the likes of Memphis Depay and Adnan Januzaj could flourish further if they observed him at close quarters.

The pros and cons of Cristiano Ronaldo’s potential Man Utd return
Cristiano Ronaldo won nine major honours during his first spell in Manchester

The Cons

Having looked at few of the pro’s regarding the potential deal, now its time to switch attention to the potential downsides to his arrival.
Firstly, although Ronaldo is showing no signs of slowing down at present, he turns 31 in February and handing him a lucrative long-term deal could be risky. Although the Portuguese captain obviously possesses a number of outstanding talents, two things that he relies on heavily in his game are pace and power, attributes that are bound to slow down as he enters his mid 30s.

Its impossible to predict how long Ronaldo can keep up his current level, but a number of players who have been similar in style to him have been victims of a downturn in effectiveness as they get older. Its expected that United will have to shell out at least £80m to bring him back, which is a huge amount for a player who is already 30.

Secondly, would his arrival upset United’s current attacking balance? Louis van Gaal has stated he will start the season with a 4-3-3 system with Rooney as the focal point of his attack. However, Ronaldo isn’t one to settle for playing second fiddle to anyone and he would undoubtedly become the go-to man for United should he re-join, minimising the importance of United’s captain.

The pros and cons of Cristiano Ronaldo’s potential Man Utd return
Would this front three work at Man Utd next season?

It would also be intriguing to see where he would fit into Van Gaal’s plans. Should he start on the left, what would that mean for Memphis Depay? At 21 Depay needs to be playing regularly in order to fulfil his potential, but would Ronaldo’s presence in the team see his progress stall? He could also play as a number nine, but then that would likely see Rooney shifted back into a midfield position that he didn’t appear too comfortable in last season. During his first spell at the club, he often played on the right-wing, but of the three attacking positions in Van Gaal’s system, that would be the least effective role for him, as he has proven to be deadly when cutting in from the left flank onto his right foot.
At Real Madrid, he’s been granted a free role to wander in from the left flank and cause havoc. But Van Gaal is very set in his ways as to what he expects from his players, would he be willing to give Ronaldo the same freedom to express himself? Shackling Ronaldo to a more rigid set of principles could negate his ability to score goals and make him easier to play against.

Finally, how would Ronaldo and Van Gaal get on? The pair have two of the biggest ego’s in World football and there’s certainly potential for there to be serious fireworks between them. Van Gaal has proven throughout his managerial career that he is the main man at the club and has given short shrift to big personalities in the past – Rivaldo’s career at Barcelona was ended after he refused to play on the left wing under the Dutchman for instance. Should Ronaldo get a bit too big for his boots, he could well end up on the wrong side of his manager, which is frankly not a great position for any player to be in.

Ronaldo’s return to these shores would be massive for the Premier League, given the number of stars that have swapped England for La Liga in recent years and we’d expect him to prove a resounding success for at least a couple of years. However, even though Ronaldo is a safer bet than most, no transfer ever offers a 100% guarantee of success and in this case, maybe it is just too good to be true.