Cristiano Ronaldo is coming home. Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you know that Manchester United has confirmed that they have reached an agreement to bring back CR7 from Juventus.

Fresh off the heels of a stunning World Cup Qualifiers performance against the Republic of Ireland that saw the Portuguese superstar score two late goals to lead Portugal to victory, Ronaldo is expected to make his return to United in the Premier League match against Newcastle at ‘Old Trafford’ on September 11.

United have agreed to pay Juventus a £12.8 million fee for the transfer of the 36-year-old, with the deal subject to personal terms, a visa and a medical exam. 

The deal also includes £6.85 million in add-ons based on appearances and success.

Ronaldo spent six seasons at ‘Old Trafford’ from 2003 to 2009 scoring 118 goals in 292 games for the ‘Red Devils’ before he moved to Real Madrid. After nine seasons in the Spanish capital he moved to Juventus in 2018.

“Everyone at the club looks forward to welcoming Cristiano back to Manchester,” said a United statement.

After a dramatic 24 hours, United announced that they are bringing back Ronaldo even though many believed that the player has already agreed on personal terms with city rival Manchester City.

However, Ronaldo chose to go back to the place where he reached superstar status. Under Sir Alex Ferguson, Ronaldo won three Premier League titles, one Champions League, two League Cups and one FA Cup – as well as the Fifa Club World Cup and Community Shield.

It is believed that Ferguson is the man who played the key role in convincing Ronaldo to come back to the place where he is considered a living legend.

The former Manchester United boss snatched him out of the hands of cross-town rivals Manchester City in a £480,000-a-week deal after an emotional conversation with him on Thursday morning.

Manchester City has one of the richest ownership in football but somehow they missed the opportunity to sign another elite forward after they failed to bring in Harry Kane from Tottenham.

Former United captain Rio Ferdinand also confirmed that Cristiano Ronaldo and Sir Alex have got a bond that very few players get to have in their careers with a manager.

“There was no way Cristiano Ronaldo would be coming to Man United without speaking to Sir Alex Ferguson. Simple as that,” said Ferdinand.

If anyone doubted his return to ‘Old Trafford’ everything was perfectly clear after Ronaldo’s latest post on Instagram.

“I gave my heart and soul for Juventus and I’ll always love the city of Turin until my final days. We can all look back and realise we achieved great things, not all that we wanted, but still, we wrote a pretty beautiful story together.”

Ronaldo was desperate to leave Torino but with not many teams being able to afford him, he wasn’t expecting to go back to United.

The deal was triggered after Ronaldo told Juventus boss Max Allegri that he no longer wanted to play for the club and was therefore taken out of the squad for Juventus’ home game against Empoli.

United’s manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer who has previously played with Ronaldo, acknowledged that the team will try their shot at Ronaldo at Friday’s press conference.

“I didn’t think Cristiano was going to leave Juventus. But if ever he is going to move away from Juventus he knows we are here. We’ve always had good communication, Bruno has been talking to him as well. He knows how we feel about him. He is a legend of this club, the greatest players of all time if you ask me,” said Solskjaer.

Ronaldo is the third major signing this summer for United after they reached deals with Jadon Sancho and Raphael Varane.

WORDS: Marko Mitevski.