Manchester City legend Shaun Goater claims his former side tricked Manchester United into signing Cristiano Ronaldo.
Ronaldo made his return to Old Trafford last summer, 12 years on from his departure from the club. Before completing the move to United, the Portuguese ace had looked set to join rivals City, only for United to step in to prevent the five-time Ballon d’Or winner from moving to their neighbours.
Since returning to United, Ronaldo has been in solid goalscoring form, scoring 18 goals in 32 games across all competitions. But his goals haven't helped United challenge for major honours as they had hoped.
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Questions have been asked about his ability to fit into a modern system, with interim boss Ralf Rangnick looking to integrate a pressing style. Rumours have also been rife of splits within the dressing room involving Ronaldo.
And Goater feels United made a mistake in bringing the 37-year-old back last year. There has been speculation over Ronaldo’s future ahead of the summer, despite the Portugal international signing a two-year deal.
“I’ve got to be honest, I never thought Cristiano Ronaldo’s return was going to be a great thing for Manchester United,” Goater told Ladbrokes (via Metro ).
“I knew he’d score goals, but I also knew that he’d take away from the shine of the future, and the youngsters they have. I didn’t think the rest of the team would score goals as a direct result of him signing; someone was going to suffer.
“That balance had to work, and I don’t think it has. If Ronaldo was told ‘look, use your experience, you’re obviously a key player and you’re going to have plenty of game-time, but a key part of this project is these young players coming through’, then it might have been a different story. But, as we can see, Marcus Rashford has gone off the boil, and I think it’s because he’s lost a lot of belief; he’s just sort of been left to figure it out.”
On City’s involvement in Ronaldo’s return to United, Goater added: “When I saw that news break that he’d signed for them, as a Man City fan, I thought it was good for us. I don’t think City were ever really going to sign Ronaldo. Pep’s teams play the way they play because it’s about the team, not about the individual – and so I truly don’t think it would have ever worked.
“It could be a really smart chess move from City, who have already thought a few steps ahead, maybe with one eye on the next summer transfer window, and by forcing United’s hand into signing Ronaldo, it’s likely to be one less team who are going to go after a striker this summer.
“I’ve been around the club long enough to know that they hardly ever get these decisions wrong. Whether that’s on the pitch or off it, they have experts across all areas, so I wouldn’t be surprised at all if City are making chess moves here that no one else has even thought of.”
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