Cristiano Ronaldo Rejected Manchester United In Summer, Will Red Devils Now Snub Striker Despite His Plea To Return?
Manchester United might reject the opportunity to bring Cristiano Ronaldo back to Old Trafford after it was revealed that the Portuguese forward turned down the chance to join the Red Devils last summer.
The Daily Mail have now reported that United are set to play hard-ball over the potential signing as they feel that they have the upper-hand in negotiations already. Ronaldo signed a new five-year deal with Real Madrid a few months ago, but this was only after United had offered the club a package of around $200 million to re-join them.
United’s interest in the 29-year-old striker, who turns 30 in February, is obvious. They believed that if they managed to prize Ronaldo back to Old Trafford over the summer it would have helped to restore faith in the club after their tumultuous campaign under David Moyes, which saw them finish 7th in the Premier League table after winning the title the season before.
Ronaldo was thought to have been severely tempted by the offer, but after much consideration he decided that he would stay with the Champions League winners since he envisioned winning many more European Cups with them. However, this was before they decided to sell Angel Di Maria to United for just under $100 million, a move which has left Ronaldo deeply unhappy with Madrid’s hierarchy.
He is now believed to be actively seeking a return to United, as he wants to go back to the club where he felt the happiest. Madrid are also willing to sell the aging forward despite his prowess, as they recently announced that they have debts of close to $600 million.
However, United are still irked that Ronaldo teased them with a potential move last summer, only to then put pen to paper on a lucrative new deal with Madrid. This means that they’re willing to dismiss Madrid’s request of $100 million for the player, as well as his desire to be paid over $500,000 a week to play for them.
Over the weekend Madrid scrapped a deal that they’d made with Monaco which gave the French club the first opportunity to buy Ronaldo after he’d turned 30. This was done to prove to United that they were now the only club Ronaldo will move to, however this latest development suggests that a famous return to northern England isn’t going to be that straightforward after all.
Whoever ends up with Ronaldo will still clearly profit from his impressive talents, which are still prevalent despite his age, something that he showed over the weekend when he scored his 27th career hat-trick against Deportivo.
[Image via HD Wallpapers]
