Cristiano Ronaldo has returned to Manchester United’s Carrington base to hash out his future at the club (or otherwise). The wantaway star pursued a move to a Champions League club but failed in his bid to settle a deal with either Chelsea or Bayern Munich. Thomas Tuchel prioritised defenders over the Portuguese, while Bayern baulked at the suggestion. Atletico Madrid was (or is still) interested, but funds are scarce at the mattress makers. Having skipped United’s pre-season tour to Australia, he is perhaps resigned to remain at Old Trafford, albeit under the management of newly arrived Erik Ten Hag.

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The player and agent Jorge Mendes arrived earlier for discussions with Ten Hag. But, it seems that the United top brass is unwilling to leave things to chance. Soon after their arrival, old gun Sir Alex Ferguson was spotted by journalists outside the training complex. The Scot is known to have an almost mystic hold over Ronaldo, having taken him under his wing during his teenage years. It was Ferguson’s intervention that swayed Ronaldo to sign for United. Speaking to the media at the time, CR7 made no pretensions of his hand in the transfer:

“For me, Sir Alex Ferguson is like a father in football for me. He helped me a lot, he taught me many things, and in my opinion of course he had a big role because of the relationship that we had, we keep in touch all the time, and he’s an unbelievable person. I really like him a lot and he was the main key for me to be in the position that I am, that I signed for Manchester United,” quotes the Mirror.

While his numbers were impressive (24 goals in 38 games), Ronaldo struggled for consistency, betraying the figures to an extent. His presence forced two managers into a rethink. While Solskjaer wanted a dynamic counter-attacking approach, Rangnick compromised his gegenpressing ways. Both installed Ronaldo as the focal point, diminishing the rest of the side in the process.

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But such is his pull Ten Hag tussles to keep Ronaldo in Manchester. The Dutchman- hailing from the best traditions of positional play- will wrack his brains to accommodate the veteran. But the fruitful partnership with Sebastian Haller at Ajax might offer some clues. But with Fergie rolling into talks, Ronaldo will perhaps remain a Red Devil for the foreseeable future.