When Cristiano Ronaldo made his grand return to Manchester United in 2021, eschewing an approach from Manchester City and Pep Guardiola to head back to the Theatre of Dreams after 12 years away, it was supposed to ensure that the Premier League title would also make its way back to Old Trafford.
Ronaldo, the conquering hero. Europe’s greatest goalscorer, arguably ever, riding back into town to end what has been almost a decade of under-performance for the Red Devils, since the departure of his great mentor, Sir Alex Ferguson.
While United had floundered, Ronaldo had won. And won again. And again. League titles, the Champions League (four times), individual accolades galore, feted at both Real Madrid and Juventus. After a second place finish in 2020-21, the goalscorer supreme, coupled with the costly additions of Jadon Sancho and another serial winner in ex-Madrid teammate Raphael Varane, ensured there could be no more excuses. Having rebuilt under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer following the end of Jose Mourinho's tempestuous reign, Ronaldo was the final piece of an expensively-assembled jigsaw and put United firmly into ‘win-now’ mode; after electing to hand the 36-year-old £500k-a-week, merely competing for the top four was no longer enough. A title challenge was expected, competing with Manchester City and Liverpool.
