Cristiano Ronaldo has rejoined Manchester United; in case you didn’t know! With this being one of the many marquee summer signings what can fans hope to expect from Ronaldo’s return to Old Trafford? How could it further impact United’s progress as a global phenomenon in the sporting market?
Cristiano Ronaldo is one of the world’s most prestigious and recognizable names. He is a worldwide superstar and one of the greatest players to ever live. His move generated headlines all around the world, even US sportsbooks were keen to offer betting markets based on his move and whether or not it would be a success, something which was previously unheard of.
Ronaldo began his career in his native homeland of Portugal with his boyhood club Sporting Lisbon before being signed by Sir Alex Ferguson and Manchester United in 2003 for £12million.
Ronaldo blossomed upon arrival in Manchester and would ensure that the Red Devils would continuously dominant both the domestic and European competitions with Ronaldo becoming a household name amongst Untied fans.
In his time at Old Trafford, he would win three Premier League titles, an FA Cup, two League cups and a Champions League in 2008, the same year he won his first Ballon d’Or, before leaving in a then world record £80million move to Real Madrid where he continued his pathway to becoming one of greatest to ever play the game.
Ronaldo’s list of accolades since leaving United are near endless with his most notable honors including another four Champions League winners’ medals, a 2016 Euros championship with Portugal and incredibly another four Ballon d’Or awards amongst other success at the domestic level with Madrid and later Juventus.
Now at the age of 36, Cristiano Ronaldo is returning home to Manchester in a summer window that saw Raphael Varane and Jadon Sancho also join the club which has left the entire Manchester United fanbase in a frenzy.
Also Read – How have the new signings’ progressed so far at Manchester United?
With neighbours Manchester City now facing some true competition back at Old Trafford, United fans have every reason to be excited and optimistic for the new season as they have now been touted as potential challengers to overthrow Man City’s Premier League dominance.
With United welcoming back a returning legend amongst other prestigious names as well as already bolstering a squad with an abundance of talent and overlapping quality, it seems that Manchester United are well and truly back, with Ronaldo’s arrival in particular being a major way for United to increase their influence both on and off the pitch.
Manchester United are already one of the world’s biggest global footballing giants and one of the most valuable sporting assets on the planet. With a monumental fanbase that stretches to their social media following and marketing, United’s global notoriety is almost unparalleled.
The club already has a number of players who have become a major brand in the footballing landscape with Paul Pogba being perhaps the biggest influencer, but Ronaldo’s influence as a brand is a different breed entirely.
When the club announced that they had agreed a deal to resign the Portuguese talisman from Juventus, the club’s website crashed due to an incredibly high number of fans opening the link.
Cristiano Ronaldo shirt sales have hit £187.1m since #mufc officially announced his shirt number, meaning United have now recouped all of the £12.9m fee the club paid Juventus (United receive £13.1m commission) #mulive [@LovetheSales]
— utdreport (@utdreport) September 10, 2021
Shirt sales of Ronaldo’s name and returning number have also sold out with Ronaldo’s brand, CR7, being arguably the most popular in all of football.
Manchester United’s stock value also saw a notable 8% increase over the next 24 hours with the club’s social media coverage and further posting about Ronaldo’s return all being major reasons for why the club’s market viability has drastically increased.
In terms of what fans can expect from an on the pitch product, it seems that Ronaldo’s debut against Newcastle speaks for itself for what Manchester United are getting. Even at such a late age of his career, Ronaldo is still one of the best players on the planet and proved that he still more than enough left in the tank to compete at football’s biggest level.
Ronaldo scored twice in a 4-1 home win over the Magpies in front of a jubilant and almost reincarnated Old Trafford crowd, this being perhaps the most raucous game that Old Trafford has hosted in the post Sir Alex Ferguson era. Other stars including Bruno Fernandes, who scored a contender for goal of the season, Paul Pogba and Luke Shaw made sure to keep all fans and pundits alike aware that there is more than enough world class talent surrounding the returning Ronaldo.
As stated before, this will surely put United as firm contenders to challenge Manchester City for the title, with Chelsea also another team who have been labelled as contenders. With such arrival of Ronaldo’s stature, this is likely being the long-time missing piece in a side that has craved leadership and an improvement in quality upfront.
Also Read – Carragher: Ronaldo’s return won’t turn United into title contenders
Ronaldo’s announcement is a perfect example of how to promote such a star and the wider impact that this could have on the side in question. Many clubs have also used a bountiful of impressive methods to promote their team and a major new arrival.
After what has been an unprecedented and preposterous summer transfer window, which also saw Lionel Messi sign for PSG on a free, this deal may have been the most lucrative and astounding of them all.
After 12 years Manchester United have finally found their replacement for Cristiano Ronaldo, it just so happens to be the same star who arrived at the club in 2003 as a young player with immense potential, left as one of the best names in world football and returning as arguably the greatest player to ever live in the history of the Beautiful Game.
