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Cristiano Ronaldo matured into an international superstar at Manchester United between 2003 and 2009
Photo: Martin Rickett / dpa
Cristiano Ronaldo was able to make sure on October 23, 2018 that he is still loved at Old Trafford.
With Juventus he played in the preliminary round of the Champions League at Manchester United, where he was promoted to international superstar between 2003 and 2009.
After the game, the home crowd was in a celebratory mood, despite the 1-0 defeat.
The United fans celebrated Ronaldo with chants, and the venerable himself patted his chest repeatedly on the way to the dressing room.
(Incidentally, the fact that rape allegations against him had recently become public, which he denies, did not seem to be an issue.)
Now Ronaldo is returning to Old Trafford again, and this return is accompanied by even more fanfare than the 2018 meeting, because this time he comes not as an opponent, but as part of the United community.
At the end of a day when Ronaldo was expected to move from Juventus to Manchester City, city rivals United announced their commitment and provided the transfer circus around the 36-year-old striker from Portugal with a memorable punchline.
Unsurprisingly, United sells the business as a romantic story, the homecoming of the prodigal son who comes home for one last dance at the end of his world career.
"Welcome home," was how the association wrote the message about the transfer on Twitter.
Ronaldo did not start his professional career in England, but at Sporting Lisbon.
The United environment is likely to ignore such details.
For many fans, Ronaldo is the best player they have ever seen in their club's red jersey.
The fact that he apparently deliberately decided against city rivals City after former colleagues such as Rio Ferdinand and even coach icon Sir Alex Ferguson intervened is an additional balm for the tortured souls of United fans.
United want to be taken seriously again
Since Ferguson's departure in 2013 with the last title win so far, they have had to experience how their club has been left behind by their newly rich city rivals.
Manchester City won four championships during this time and is considered the Champions League favorite every season, while United had to sell two runners-up titles and winning the 2017 Europa League as a success.
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Ronaldo in 2008 with Sir Alex Ferguson, his longtime United coach
Photo: Martin Rickett / dpa
Ronaldo's commitment is a signal that the crashed record champions want to be taken seriously again - in their own city, in the Premier League and in the entire football cosmos.
And it is a skilful maneuver by the club owners, the Glazers from Florida, who are hated by many fans, to smooth the waves around the club.
After the debacle over the Super League plans, the base in Manchester had rebelled the most violently.
Because of fan protests, the game against arch rivals Liverpool FC had to be canceled at the beginning of May.
In addition to the attempted breakout into an elite league, the audience accused the Glazers of running down the club in favor of their own profits.
Weaknesses in defensive midfield
This summer Machester United has shown those ambitions on the player market that the appendix has been missing for so long with the signing of Jadon Sancho from Borussia Dortmund, Raphaël Varane from Real Madrid and now with the Ronaldo transfer.
While Sancho and Varane specifically addressed weaknesses in the squad in the medium to long term, the question arises as to how sensible Ronaldo's return is from a sporting point of view.
In the center forward position there was actually no need thanks to Edinson Cavani, Anthony Martial and Mason Greenwood.
And if so, then the club would have needed a striker in the prime of his career - for example Harry Kane, 28, who is staying at Tottenham Hotspur after Manchester City's unsuccessful advertising.
United's biggest construction site is the defensive midfield, where besides the changeable Paul Pogba another player of international stature is missing.
Champions City, Champions League winners Chelsea and, to a lesser extent, Liverpool FC still have a better balanced first team than United.
Under coach Ole Gunnar Solskjær, a change with young, preferably British players is propagated.
But the prospect of Ronaldo's spectacular return was clearly too tempting to insist on principle.
Solskjær is under even more pressure than before with the arrival of his former teammate.
After more than two and a half years in office, evidence is still pending that the Norwegian is the right man to lead Manchester United to titles again.
In his defense, he has always been able to argue that the club is in a state of upheaval, that they are on the right track, that successes will come in time. After signing Ronaldo (as an encore to Varane and Sancho), he has no more excuses. Another season without a trophy - and the benevolence of the community towards Solskjær would have been used up.
