Cristiano Ronaldo leaves Manchester United: How a glorious return turned sour (2024)

We are republishing this article after Manchester United and Cristiano Ronaldo reached an agreement for the player to leave following his infamous interview. This article was first published on August 31.

For Manchester United and Cristiano Ronaldo, this was never the plan. When the five-time Ballon d’Or winner returned to Old Trafford from Juventus in a blaze of glory and triumphalism, having supposedly spurned the advances of rivals Manchester City, the ambition was to elevate United from pretenders to contenders.

During the 2020-21 campaign, United finished second under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and lost the Europa League final against Villarreal. When Ronaldo arrived, United mapped out their desire to win the Premier League title for the first time since Sir Alex Ferguson retired as manager in 2013, while also targeting the latter stages of the Champions League.

This week marks exactly a year since Ronaldo’s return to United and the speed and intensity of their decline have been startling. Ronaldo’s year has been a riddle of contradictions. Individually, his most basic statistics last season were good. He scored 18 Premier League goals and 24 in all competitions. He scored in the first five matches of the Champions League group stage. Even in a failing team who finished sixth in the Premier League, conceding 57 goals along the way, he produced eye-catching moments. Yet simultaneously, he became one of the club’s most-criticised players, as pundits and supporters debated whether his ego and reluctance to press from the front of the pitch created more problems than his individual brilliance was able to solve.

To those in charge, Ronaldo’s presence correlated with underperformance. Solskjaer was sacked within 13 matches of Ronaldo’s arrival. The Norwegian’s interim replacement, Ralf Rangnick, arrived in late November but by January, he argued privately to the club’s board that Ronaldo should be moved on and replaced if United wished to progress.

Both Solskjaer and Rangnick are now mere collateral of United’s annus horribilis and the Ronaldo dilemma now rests with the new manager, Erik ten Hag. The Dutchman initially wished to keep Ronaldo at the club but after the 4-0 Premier League defeat at Brentford in his second game in charge, Ten Hag made it clear to United’s executives that he would not stand in the way of Ronaldo leaving. Ronaldo has since been relegated to a substitute role in United’s victories against Liverpool and Southampton.

Read more: Cristiano Ronaldo unveiled at Al Nassr: ‘It’s not the end of my career to come to South Africa’

Ronaldo, for his part, made clear to the club in July that he wished to play in the Champions League this season, which will not be possible at United as they are competing in the less prestigious Europa League. Ronaldo told the magazine France Football in 2019 that if it were up to him, he would play only the big games. “Those of the national team and Champions League,” Ronaldo said. “It’s those types of games that motivate me, with everything at stake.” It is difficult to envisage Ronaldo, even at the age of 37, content to play reserve in the Premier League and only starting fixtures against Moldovan club Sheriff Tiraspol and Cypriot side Omonia Nicosia in the Europa League.

As such, all paths have hinted towards an exit, yet as of now, the highest-paid player in the history of the Premier League has not received substantial approaches from major Champions League clubs. Indeed, the only formal approach has been an obscene offer from Al Hilal, which does not fit Ronaldo’s desire to remain in Europe’s elite competition, though there remains interest from Saudi Arabia to sign the forward. With two days of the transfer window remaining, the increasing expectation at United is Ronaldo will now be forced to accept a season in the Europa League and some at Carrington have detected a positive change in his attitude in recent days. Yet as a summer window in which he has been searching for an exit draws to a close, the forward’s future remains uncertain.

The Athletic has spoken to sources at the club and close to the player to bring the inside story on how a reunion between arguably the world’s most famous football club and most famous football player turned sour and left Ronaldo exploring a divorce.

As Manchester United’s form faltered in February, a delegation of senior players approached Rangnick at United’s Carrington training base. Ronaldo was among the cohort, as were Paul Pogba and Raphael Varane.

Yet Harry Maguire, the club’s captain and centre-back, was not present. Ronaldo’s own messages came through loud and clear. He felt he needed to play as part of a two-man front line. Edinson Cavani was his preferred strike partner. Ronaldo also stated his view that Maguire should be demoted to the bench after a series of under-par showings. Eventually, Rangnick told the players he felt the conversation was inappropriate without Maguire present as the captain. Ronaldo retorted to say he believed Maguire was part of the problem. Some of the other players present felt uncomfortable and apologised to Rangnick subsequently.

Ronaldo’s representative, Gestifute, did not respond when approached for comment on this story or any other within this report. Though nobody at United disputes issues arose last season, Maguire’s relationship with his peers is not as bad as sometimes portrayed and it is worth remembering the past three United coaches have all selected him to be their captain and valued his leadership. Ten Hag also leans on Bruno Fernandes and David de Gea as leading voices in the dressing room.

For United, this division was all a far cry from the jubilation that greeted Ronaldo’s signing in August 2021. Ronaldo had appeared destined to join Manchester City when their pursuit of Harry Kane had faltered and Ronaldo was presented as an alternative by his agent Jorge Mendes. Earlier in August, City had ruled out a transfer for Ronaldo, but as the clock ticked towards the deadline, the club became more curious.

Although Ronaldo’s style differs from the usual profile of forward favoured by coach Pep Guardiola, City recognised he would guarantee more than 20 goals. They had been pursuing a striker for three transfer windows without success. They also appreciated the potential commercial value of a superstar signing. On Tuesday, August 24, Mendes was reported to have met with City representatives in Paris, although a senior representative at the Etihad insisted on the Tuesday afternoon that City were still deliberating internally as to whether they truly wanted a player their coach appeared to have written off as a target less than a week earlier.

Those deliberations included the stylistic fit of the player and also how Ronaldo’s wages may impact dressing-room harmony. However, by Tuesday night, there was an expectation both from City and representatives of Ronaldo that the player would return to Manchester to play in light blue.

What happened next may forever be disputed. United wanted the world to believe they dramatically gazumped City to Ronaldo’s signature, who apparently only ever had his heart set on a return to United. Ronaldo first signed for United as a teenager in 2003 and won three Premier League titles, an FA Cup and a Champions League under Sir Alex Ferguson. City, however, take the view that while Ronaldo was considered, it was a lukewarm rather than red-hot pursuit. Some at City also believe Ronaldo was very keen to join the club, where he would have linked up with a serial winner in Guardiola and would have been more likely to progress further in the Champions League.

Yet the deal was not concluded. Multiple sources told The Athletic that the future of another City player, Raheem Sterling, became significant. Sterling was offered to Barcelona in the final week of last year’s transfer window, but the player and Barcelona did not actively pursue the transfer. These sources suggest Guardiola felt he might need to move out Sterling to accommodate Ronaldo, which created a lull and an opportunity for United to strike. Sterling was offered to Barcelona again in January — this time, he was prepared to leave on loan — but by then Barcelona, had scouted more intensively and manager Xavi was advised to sign another City player, Ferran Torres, instead.

As the Manchester clubs deliberated in the summer, news had broken publicly that Ronaldo intended to join City and the big beasts of United’s boardroom and dressing room grew alarmed. United’s then manager Solskjaer held a meeting with his assistant Mike Phelan and the pair pushed United’s executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward to hijack the deal. Contrary to initial soundings from United, Ronaldo’s former manager Ferguson did not speak directly to the player but he did contact Mendes. Ronaldo’s former team-mates Rio Ferdinand and Patrice Evra were up until the early hours as they sought to persuade Ronaldo to spurn City and join United. Ferdinand also spoke to Woodward and United’s then-transfer negotiator Matt Judge. Ronaldo’s Portugal international team-mate Fernandes also sent messages.

The question, therefore, is whether United truly wanted Ronaldo or only acted because their rivals threatened to sign one of United’s favourite sons. United argued they did not act earlier in the window because they did not, at that stage, expect him to leave Juventus. United had previously considered resigning Ronaldo, most notably earlier in his spell at Juventus where Ferguson received intelligence to say he may not have entirely settled in Turin. The conversations between United and Juventus were straightforward, with Woodward and Juventus chairman Andrea Agnelli co-conspirators in the European Super League project only a handful of months earlier.

Woodward spoke to Mendes on his mobile phone from the back garden of his neighbour Gary Lineker. Former England international Lineker told the BBC: “He signed Cristiano Ronaldo when he was in my garden! When he walked in he was on the phone to Jorge Mendes (Ronaldo’s agent) — I hope I’m not giving too much away! I have a fantastic picture of him sat on the phone to him, which I might share one day with his permission.”

United were smug. Having also signed Varane from Real Madrid and Jadon Sancho from Borussia Dortmund, United’s executives internally believed they had secured their best summer of business since 2007, when the club signed Carlos Tevez, Owen Hargreaves, Anderson and Nani, before lifting the Champions League the following season.

The deal for Ronaldo was eye-watering as he signed terms reported to be worth £500,000 per week — however, he, like his peers, has been subject to a 25 per cent wage drop this season for failing to qualify for the Champions League. City, meanwhile, insist they were not beaten to the signing and also deny Sterling’s situation was key to a deal.

The value for United was immediately seen commercially. In the 24 hours that followed United’s announcement of agreeing a deal with Juventus for Ronaldo, it became the most liked post by a sports team in social media history. That Friday also recorded the highest number of daily social media interactions on United channels.

In short, United thought they had bought the dream: a superstar on and off the field. They had the top scorer from Serie A for the previous two seasons and they spoke of a unique 36-year-old, such is his dedication to his fitness and professionalism.

Privately, senior club sources spoke of Ronaldo’s desire to complete “unfinished business”, insisting this was not about reliving the past but instead “writing a new chapter in the club’s and his own history”.

Ronaldo’s debut, a 4-1 home win against Newcastle, brought a rare Old Trafford appearance from the club’s co-owner Avram Glazer.

Ronaldo scored United’s first two goals and that September afternoon was the most recent time they have been top of the league. There was one major source of concern that day, as a banner supporting Kathryn Mayorga, who accused Ronaldo of sexual assault, flew over Old Trafford. The Level Up feminist group stated its intention to “remind crowds” of the allegations against Ronaldo. American prosecutors had stated in 2019 that Ronaldo would not face charges. Ronaldo has always denied the allegations and called the story “fake news”.

Yet much of the publicity and coverage surrounding Ronaldo’s return was effusively positive. In an interview with Italian newspaper La Repubblica, his former team-mate Evra said: “Cristiano needs love and respect. He was becoming a scapegoat at Juventus. The criticism towards Ronaldo in Italy was ridiculous and a bit hypocritical. Another mistake was (Juventus manager) Allegri saying in a press conference: ‘Cristiano won’t play every game’. There’s no need to say some things in public. In any case, Cristiano’s one true love is Manchester United.”

At Old Trafford, Ronaldo received adoration. The club relentlessly promoted their star talent on social media platforms. United secured special dispensation from the Premier League to return the gilded No 7 jersey to Ronaldo, with Cavani demoted to the No 21 shirt. Ronaldo’s eldest son, Cristiano Jr, began training with United’s academy alongside Kai Rooney, the son of Ronaldo’s former team-mate Wayne.

In the dressing room, Ronaldo’s arrival lifted players. The reserve goalkeeper Lee Grant let slip in a radio interview how Ronaldo’s monastic diet inspired his team-mates to not touch the dessert menu on the evening before his early games at the club. First-choice goalkeeper De Gea confided in friends that his impression of the club’s ambition was boosted by Varane and Ronaldo’s signings and De Gea told them he was ready “to die” for the chance to win trophies alongside Ronaldo. Another one of Ronaldo’s new team-mates, observing his diet, stopped adding sugar to their tea and coffee, while other peers noted how their own social media channels skyrocketed in interactions when they appeared in photographs posted by Ronaldo from training sessions.

Ronaldo scored five goals in his first five appearances for United, including a late winner in the Champions League against Villarreal, but the first signs of trouble appeared within a month of his arrival and during a 1-1 draw in the Premier League against Everton at Old Trafford. Solskjaer rested Ronaldo for the Saturday lunchtime fixture after the Champions League exertions midweek. This became a story when a clip emerged of Ferguson chatting with Russian MMA fighter Khabib Nurmagomedov in the United director’s lounge and the Scot appeared to say a manager should always start their best players. Ronaldo’s petulant walk down the tunnel at the final whistle set tongues wagging further.

In the dressing room, Ronaldo’s return had put some noses out of joint. Cavani, who had grown popular in his first season at the club, received fewer opportunities while Anthony Martial also had far less football after Ronaldo arrived. Dan James, a player Solskjaer valued highly, was sold to Leeds after being informed by a club director he would be eighth choice if he remained at the club beyond the close of last summer’s transfer window. Cavani was also aggrieved to lose his No7 jersey.

United’s form rapidly deteriorated after Ronaldo’s arrival, losing heavily against Leicester, Liverpool and Watford. Ronaldo was among the many players who lost faith in Solskjaer’s capacity to steer United to silverware. Behind the scenes, the cause was considered to go beyond tactics and also splits in the dressing room.

Nobody would suggest this can all be attributed to Ronaldo, particularly as there had always been reservations as to whether Solskjaer, who signed a new three-year contract in the summer of 2021, had the ability to lead United back to the very top. Indeed, one rival coach at a Premier League club, who wished not to be named as he is speaking without permission of his employers, described Solskjaer’s United last season as “the team you wanted to play to make you feel good about yourselves”.

As for Ronaldo, the verdicts are not black and white. The reviews of his personality are mixed. Several training-ground sources contacted by The Athletic insisted he remained a “top-class” professional under Solskjaer on the training ground, where he would run at the front, score the most goals, eat correctly, stretch correctly, arrive early and leave late. This view was not shared by all of the staff who later worked with Ronaldo under Rangnick.

Yet Ronaldo’s allies argue his standards were too high for the environment he entered at United, where he felt the club’s structure, logistics, operations and facilities were not in keeping with a best-in-class sporting institution. In one meeting, Ronaldo complained United “have no sporting director”, despite the fact United do have a football director, John Murtough.

United have long-term plans to improve the club’s training ground and stadium but they did make interim modifications partially based on concerns highlighted by Ronaldo, most notably in a refurbishment of the club’s swimming pool and sauna, neither of which had been upgraded since Ronaldo had left the club. There was also a recognition Ronaldo had left behind Juventus, who have a state-of-the-art hotel and training facilities located close to the stadium, which avoids the type of journeys across town that Ronaldo endured from the Lowry Hotel to Old Trafford before home games.

Despite Ronaldo’s concerns about Solskjaer, he did attempt to unite the players, giving a speech calling for greater application and effort after the team lost 5-0 against Liverpool in October. He also joined the players for a team-bonding lunch before the 2-0 defeat by Manchester City. It was Ronaldo whose goals kept Solskjaer clinging on, as he scored crucial strikes against Tottenham and Atalanta at home and away as the pressure increased on the Norwegian. On another occasion, Ronaldo encouraged Pogba to be calm rather than aggressive when going in to see Solskjaer over his place in the team.

What a finish by Cristiano Ronaldo… assisted by Bruno Fernandes. 🚀

⚪ Tottenham 0-1 Man United 🔴

📽️ @SkySportsPLpic.twitter.com/qFYYAfQvCf

— The Athletic | Football (@TheAthleticFC) October 30, 2021

In late November, a handful of days before Solskjaer was sacked, the mood was on the floor at Carrington but the players were expected to film their Christmas messages of goodwill to poorly supporters. United would usually visit hospitals but COVID-19 restrictions meant that filmed messages were preferred. United decked out a room in Christmas decorations but one player’s missive was judged to be so glum as to be unusable. Ronaldo, however, immediately clicked into his role and delivered the most animated messages to cheer up the fans. Incidentally, Maguire is said to be one of the players most actively engaged with the club’s charity work, repeatedly joining the club’s foundation on visits to local projects and often without publicity.

Within 48 hours of the training ground grotto, United lost 4-1 against Watford at Vicarage Road. Time was up for Solskjaer and Ronaldo was the first off the pitch at the final whistle. Solskjaer, for his part, is said to have privately conceded Ronaldo’s signing represented a key and decisive turning point in his reign.

By the time Rangnick arrived at United as interim manager on November 29, tensions had simmered to the surface. Several players in the dressing room had come to see players other than captain Maguire as the foremost voices, while members of Solskjaer’s staff also shared Ronaldo’s view that a new generation of younger players struggled to take criticism on board in a proactive way.

Rangnick inherited a fractured dressing room and players with differing ambitions at United. Influential figures such as Pogba, Cavani, Jesse Lingard, Juan Mata and Nemanja Matic knew their contracts would expire at the end of the campaign. It was one of the factors that created a sense of drift and a lack of cohesion as the season meandered towards a dismal finish. It did not help that the new signings Sancho and Varane also struggled to settle. Varane endured fitness issues and Sancho’s conditioning required greater work at the start of the campaign, while his confidence needed boosting after Rangnick’s arrival.

Ronaldo, meanwhile, started to feel let down and his exasperation was rarely disguised. One of Rangnick’s first team talks centred on metrics relating to sprints and other defensive work in comparison to their Premier League rivals. United’s numbers were not flattering and Rangnick challenged the players to apply themselves more. Ten Hag took more drastic steps to improve United’s running output when he made each player run 13.8km on the morning after the 4-0 defeat by Brentford. The 13.8km represented the difference between their cumulative running statistics and those recorded by opponents Brentford.

Rangnick sought to get United running by implementing a 4-2-2-2 system in which Ronaldo would have a strike partner, yet one good display against Crystal Palace offered false hope. The system faltered in matches against Norwich and Newcastle away, despite United taking four points. At half-time of the Newcastle draw, Ronaldo and Mason Greenwood criticised the quality of their team-mates passing in a match United conceded possession 167 times.

That was Rangnick’s third match and by his fifth game, a home fixture against Burnley, Rangnick was considering dropping Ronaldo. Instead, Ronaldo started and scored and his place in the team was protected. Yet the debate about Ronaldo’s pressing refused to go away.

During his interim period in charge between Solskjaer and Rangnick’s reigns, Michael Carrick had dropped Ronaldo from the starting XI for the visit to Chelsea, but he did so while promising the Portuguese forward he would come off the bench. Ronaldo came off the bench on 64 minutes with United leading and within five minutes the scores were level and United ended the match under the cosh.

It is understood that it is not only Rangnick’s staff but also members of Solskjaer’s backroom team who felt Ronaldo would insufficiently follow the tactical plan and instead play his own game. Indeed, some of Solskjaer’s staff had concerns when Ronaldo joined as to just how he would fit tactically into their plans.

Later in the season, Rangnick explained he had never been able to find the right balance between what United needed to be with and without the ball during his period in charge. He also acknowledged compromises had to be made tactically to accommodate Ronaldo. He said: “Cristiano scored a few goals — I’m not blaming him at all, he did great in those games — but he’s not a pressing monster. Even when he was a young player he was not shouting, ‘Hurray, the other team has got the ball, where can we win balls?’.”

Not everyone shared the view Ronaldo needed to press. In November, Ronaldo’s former team-mate Ferdinand spoke to The Athletic. He said: “You’re not talking about Joe Bloggs. You’re talking about one of the greatest, if notthe greatest, goalscorers in the history of the game. Decisive. You don’t buy him to run and press people. Real Madrid didn’t buy him in his pomp to go and press defenders — what do you want it now for? Makes no sense to me. Is Robert Lewandowksi’s main attribute pressing? When everyone was calling Harry Kanethe best No 9 in the world, were they saying, ‘He’s an unbelievable presser’? Sergio Aguero, best No 9 in the Premier League for years. Did people say, ‘He presses unbelievably’? It doesn’t happen. Does Lionel Messi press? He leaves it alone.”

The first public demonstration of Ronaldo’s unease with Rangnick appeared in a 3-1 victory over Brentford on January 19, where Ronaldo remonstrated when substituted with the team leading 2-0 on the night. Other complaints were behind closed doors but there were occasions where Ronaldo moaned at team-mates for failing to pass to him, even when they had chosen beneficial options on the pitch.

By the end of January, Rangnick had recognised what he considered to be Ronaldo’s limitations in a modern elite side and recommended that United moved the player on. United’s board, however, felt that Ronaldo’s individual goalscoring record had been strong and, in any case, there was unlikely to be a market for Ronaldo in the winter window. More to the point, the club’s board resisted as they did not feel the recommendation to be justified given Ronaldo’s importance to the team at that moment.

At the beginning of March, Ronaldo’s relationship with Rangnick came under further scrutiny. After Rangnick informed the team he would play Fernandes and Pogba as strikers against Manchester City, dropping Ronaldo from the starting XI, Ronaldo reported a hip flexor injury to the club’s doctor and spent the weekend in Portugal rather than joining his team-mates at the Etihad. United lost 4-1 and Rangnick’s tactical change had not worked. Relations between the two men were not easy.

On one Thursday in April, Ronaldo opted to train alone upon hearing of the plan for that day’s training session.

Yet towards the end of the season, Ronaldo did recapture his goalscoring form. He hit hat-tricks against Norwich and Tottenham and also scored against Arsenal, Chelsea and Brentford.

In an interview with Austrian newspaper Der Standard, published on Monday, Rangnick was asked if he would call up Ronaldo if he was Austrian.

Rangnick responded: “He’s not Austrian.”

In early July, Ronaldo’s representative Mendes let Manchester United know his client wished to play Champions League football this season and asked the club to facilitate a transfer. At the time, United’s owners, the Glazer family, chief executive Richard Arnold and new coach Ten Hag were aligned in that they wanted Ronaldo to remain at United.

Yet Ronaldo felt frustrated by the club’s performance last season and also felt United had been sluggish in the summer transfer market. He missed the club’s pre-season tour of Thailand and Australia, citing personal reasons, which was respected by United. Ronaldo had tragically mourned the loss of his son during childbirth in April.

When he returned to pre-season training at Carrington in late July, United hoped to talk Ronaldo round. United’s co-owner Joel Glazer has not so much pushed back against a move away for Ronaldo — after all, United have not had a substantial approach to ratify — but the American executive has taken a broader picture view in which the considerations of the club’s commercial and football considerations are weighed against one another. This is logical when considering the future of the club’s most highly-paid asset but ultimately the judgement of the club’s football operations would take priority.

On July 26, Ronaldo arrived into Carrington at around 10am with Mendes in tow, while his former manager Ferguson arrived roughly an hour later. United insisted on the day that Ferguson’s trip to Carrington was coincidental but the Sunday Times claimed this week that Ferguson was one of several United figures charged that day with convincing Ronaldo to reassess his plans to leave. United’s chief executive Arnold did hold talks with Mendes that day, which is why a meeting of United’s football advisory group — including Ferguson, David Gill, John Murtough, Bryan Robson and sometimes Denis Irwin — was rescheduled to take place at Carrington rather than Old Trafford.

Ultimately, Ronaldo remained set on departing and adding to his Champions League goalscoring haul. Ferdinand told The Athletic last year: “I think he would see the Europa League as a blemish on his resume. That’s how intense he is and where his standards are.”

Ten Hag still hoped to reintegrate Ronaldo, yet a week before the Premier League season started, Ronaldo made his first appearance of pre-season in a 1-1 home draw against Rayo Vallecano. After being substituted early in the second half, Ronaldo left the stadium, along with other players, before the final whistle. With Ronaldo’s future unclear, United’s social channels posted far less frequently about Ronaldo and he was also de-emphasised from the club’s kit launch.

Ronaldo was then considered short of match fitness to start the opening day defeat by Brighton, where Christian Eriksen instead started as a false nine. Ronaldo was restored to the starting line-up for the trip to Brentford but he was part of a United performance that trailed 4-0 inside 35 minutes. At full-time, Ronaldo appeared to ignore the instructions of Ten Hag’s assistant Steve McClaren, who encouraged Ronaldo to applaud United’s travelling away supporters. Ronaldo headed down the tunnel, blanked on the way by Ten Hag. A few days later Ronaldo said he would reveal “the truth” about his situation in a fortnight.

The morning following the Brentford game, Ten Hag held a meeting with his coaching team and they collectively felt the squad’s chances would improve if Ronaldo was to leave. The Athletic reported how Ronaldo had eaten alone in the canteen and argued against Ten Hag’s high-pressing strategy. By now, members of United’s squad who were so enthralled by his arrival had started to wonder whether everyone would benefit from a clean break. Indeed, by the end of last season, one United official remarked how Ronaldo’s power base of popularity was so diminished that they considered Portuguese full-back Diogo Dalot to be the new “President of the Ronaldo fan club”.

With Ronaldo unsettled at United, his agent Mendes explored the departure lounge. In July, he held discussions with Chelsea’s owner and sporting director Todd Boehly and Ronaldo was on the agenda. Yet Chelsea head coach Thomas Tuchel made clear to Boehly that Ronaldo would not be suited to his style of play. Chelsea were contacted later in the window to see whether their view had changed but Tuchel once again reinforced his opinion to the club’s ownership. Other escape routes have not materialised. Mendes hoped Bayern Munich may want Ronaldo to replace Barcelona-bound Lewandowski but the German club did not bite. Bayern chairman Oliver Kahn described Ronaldo to German newspaper Bild as “a fantastic player with a fantastic past”.

Atletico Madrid had an interest but their fanbase made clear they would not tolerate a move for a legendary figure of their city rivals Real Madrid. Atletico fans unfurled a banner stating “CR7 NOT WELCOME” during a pre-season friendly at the end of July.

The Italian club Napoli have had conversations with Ronaldo’s representatives and there were suggestions this week that a transfer could materialise if Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis could sell Nigerian striker Victor Osimhen for his €120m (£103.2m, $120.2m) price tag with the assistance of Mendes. United have no interest in Osimhen.

This has been one of the strategies Mendes has pursued in trying to find a solution for his biggest client — delivering a huge offer for a Champions League team’s star player as a way to finance and make feasible a move the other way for Ronaldo.

As with Napoli and Osimhen, AC Milan were told Mendes could deliver an eye-watering offer for the Serie A MVP Rafael Leao, one of which could be expected from United. But it never arrived and signing a player at Ronaldo’s salary and on his wage did not align with the club’s philosophy.

Mendes explored a return for Ronaldo to Sporting Lisbon, the club where he began his professional career, yet this move has not yet materialised. The Sunday Times claimed this week that head coach Ruben Amorim threatened to leave the club if Ronaldo was signed but sources close to the coach insisted Ronaldo has not been a serious possibility for Sporting as the player’s preference has been to play in a more competitive league.

At least one club linked with Ronaldo are fear he would become a stalking horse presence for the club’s manager. Every week could become a soap opera, with the cameras panning to the sidelines or substitutes bench whenever the starting striker misses a chance or the team falls behind.

For Manchester United, that may well be Ten Hag’s reality as he seeks to build a unified team bound together by his core principles. At the time of writing, United do not intend to mutually terminate Ronaldo’s contract and Ten Hag has made the case repeatedly to Ronaldo that the Portuguese can have a substantial role to play in the squad this season, albeit not as a guaranteed starter. The Dutchman has underlined to Ronaldo that he has thrived under coaches as varied as Carlo Ancelotti and Jose Mourinho and therefore, he has challenged Ronaldo to also thrive under his leadership.

There is, however, a recognition that the world of Mendes and deadline day can be unpredictable. The encouraging news for United is that Ronaldo’s demeanour has been more promising in recent days. He is reintegrating into the growing group of Portuguese and Spanish speakers at Carrington, with close bonds forming with his former Real Madrid team-mate Casemiro and the Argentine defender Lisandro Martinez. United also believe they have responded to Ronaldo’s anxiety about the club’s transfer dealings, which were echoed to the club’s executives by other first-team players, by signing up the Brazilian winger Antony from Ajax to add to Casemiro, Martinez, Tyrell Malacia, Christian Eriksen and, it is anticipated, Martin Dubravka.

A year ago, Ronaldo wrote on social media: “Everyone who knows me, knows about my never-ending love for Manchester United.”

The coming days will decide whether Ronaldo’s supposed love story will continue.

(Other contributors: Laurie Whitwell, Pol Ballus, James Horncastle)

(Photos: Getty Images; graphic: Eamonn Dalton)