Manchester: Cristiano Ronaldo is heading back to Manchester United, the team that turned him into a global superstar after reaching an agreement on Friday to re-sign with the club he played for from 2003 to 2009. The 36-year-old football star who was with Juventus in Serie A for the last three years will sign a two-year deal with United.
Ronaldo was signed by Juve in 2018 for 100 million euros ($117.90 million) and he leaves the club with 101 goals, two league crowns and a Coppa Italia to his name.
In a fast-moving deal that stunned the world of soccer, Ronaldo secured a return to Old Trafford on Friday a day after telling Juventus he no longer wanted to play for the Italian club.
Welcome back, Cristiano, read a tweet posted by United. Within minutes, the club's official website had crashed. In a statement on Friday Manchester United confirmed that the club has reached an agreement with Juventus for the transfer of Cristiano Ronaldo, subject to agreement of personal terms, visa and medical.
"Cristiano, a five-time Ballon d'Or winner, has so far won over 30 major trophies during his career, including five UEFA Champions League titles, four FIFA Club World Cups, seven league titles in England, Spain and Italy, and the European Championship for his native Portugal," added the club in the statement.
Ronaldo posted about his departure on his Instagram account.
"Today I depart from an amazing club, the biggest in Italy and surely one of the biggest in all of Europe. I gave my heart and soul for Juventus and I'll always love the city of Turin until my final days," wrote Ronaldo.
"The "Tifosi bianconeri" [Juventus fans] always respected me and I tried to thank that respect by fighting for them in every game, every season, every competition.
"In the end, we can all look back and realise that we achieved great things, not all that we wanted, but still, we wrote a pretty beautiful story together."
From an outrageously skilful, skinny 17-year-old winger who first arrived at United from Sporting Lisbon in 2003 with a box of tricks but little end product, Ronaldo who is in the late years of his career is now a completely different player.
In the following six years, he scored 118 goals in 292 appearances and swiftly became one of the most fearsome strikers in the world, winning the first of his five FIFA world player of the year awards.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, the current Man United manager, knows that all too well. He was once a teammate of Ronaldo.
He is the greatest player of all time, definitely, Solskjaer said Friday after Ronaldo's return was sealed.
Ronaldo will join for a fee of 15 million euros ($17. 7 million), with 8 million euros ($9.4 million) in add-ons. The transfer is subject to agreement of personal terms, visa and a medical examination.
It is the latest blockbuster movie of the transfer window, coming barely two weeks after Lionel Messi Ronaldo's long-time rival joined Paris Saint-Germain after his contract at Barcelona expired. PSG forward Kylian Mbappe is also the subject of a bid of about 160 million euros ($188 million) from Real Madrid.
Yet Ronaldo returning to United was not long in the making.
Indeed, the team did not expect him to leave Juventus in this transfer window and only made a move when it became clear he would be available.
Before playing his first game back at United, Ronaldo will feature for Portugal in World Cup qualifiers and has the chance to become the leading scorer in men's international soccer. He has 109 goals for his national team, tied with former Iran striker Ali Daei.
The landscape in English soccer has changed in the 12 years Ronaldo has been away. United and Chelsea were the top teams in the Premier League when he left, but Man City has been the dominant force over the past decade, winning the title five times from 2012.