Cristiano Ronaldo, one of soccer's biggest superstars, is going back to one of his old haunts at Old Trafford. The club confirmed on Friday that the 36-year-old Portugal international will join the club after a rocky breakup with Italian side Juventus ahead of Tuesday's summer transfer window deadline.
Ronaldo is joining Man United from Juve in a transfer deal for €25 million ($29.48 million) -- according to CBS Sports insider Fabrizio Romano -- to head back to the place where he called home from 2003-2009 and won nine trophies, including three Premier League titles (2006-07, 2007-08, 2008-09) and the Champions League crown (2007-08).
Manchester United is delighted to confirm that the club has reached 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.
In his first spell for Manchester United, he scored 118 goals in 292 games.
Everyone at the club looks forward to welcoming Cristiano back to Manchester.
Ronaldo first arrived on the red side of Manchester ahead of the 2003-04 season at the age of 19 as United's first ever Portuguese player and played there for six seasons before being sold to Real Madrid. He was one of United's biggest stars, and remains the only player in the Premier League era to break 30 goals for the club.
The transfer marks the end of a whirlwind week which started with Ronaldo coming off the bench in Juventus' season opener against Udinese to start his 20th season as a professional when he had a late winner in that match disallowed by VAR. Ronaldo didn't start the match because he wanted to seek other options, Fabrizio Romano reported. Over the course of the week, Ronaldo and agent Jorge Mendes increased their pressure on Juventus, and he was planning to sit out the team's second match as he tried to find a new club.
Originally it seemed Manchester City, would be that destination with rumors circulating both of Ronaldo's desire to play for the rivals of his former club, as well as City's interest. However, no formal offer was ever made and on Friday they officially decided against signing Ronaldo just as United stepped in and agreed to make a deal happen.
Ronaldo's move is the latest domino to fall in an absolutely epic transfer window with the biggest stars in the world either moving or trying to move. Ronaldo joins Lionel Messi who left Barcelona for PSG after the Catalan club was unable to financially clear enough salary to re-sign him, as absolutely megawatt stars changing teams. But the summer has also seen Romelu Lukaku move from Inter Milan to Chelsea, Harry Kane fail to force a move from Tottenham to Manchester City, and the action isn't over yet. Kylian Mbappe remains in the middle of a tug of war between his current club Paris Saint-Germain, and what most people now believe will inevitably be his future club Real Madrid and could still change teams before the window closes.
The silly season is absolutely living up to its name.