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After a frenetic last few hours of dramatic developments, Cristiano Ronaldo has made a sensational return to Manchester United. The Portuguese was looking increasingly likely to join Manchester City for large swathes of the day, but has chosen to return to his former side.
Despite his staggering exploits in three seasons at the club, Ronaldo was strongly linked with an exit from Juventus this summer. He played in the first game of the 2021-22 Serie A season, as there was no offer on the table for the Portuguese striker. But things moved at breakneck speed on Friday (August 27).
With Manchester City dropping out of the race to sign the 36-year-old, Manchester United tabled a formal offer for their former player. This was eventually accepted by Juventus.
Cristiano Ronaldo arrives at his old stomping ground as one of the best players to have graced the game since leaving Old Trafford to join Real Madrid in the summer of 2009.
Ahead of his much-awaited second debut for the club, here's a look at five things Ronaldo could achieve at Manchester United:
#5 Become the second player to score 800 goals
During his nearly two-decade-long illustrious career, Cristiano Ronaldo has been a prolific scorer for club and country.
The 36-year-old has scored 781 goals for club and country, including 109 strikes for Portugal. The Portuguese striker recently overtook Brazilian legend Pele (757) to move to second in the all-time goalscorers' list.
Ronaldo is now just 19 strikes away from joining Josef Bican (805) as the only players to score 800 career goals, a milestone he could achieve this season with Manchester United. In fact, the Portugal captain could even overtake the Czech player and go atop the all-time list, which would be another feather in his glorious cap.
#4 Register the most Champions League hat-tricks in history
Apart from being the top scorer for Real Madrid (450), Cristiano Ronaldo (134) is also the most prolific goalscorer in the history of the Champions League.
Among the slew of records Ronaldo holds in the competition is for the most hat-tricks. The Portuguese shares the record with his arch-rival Lionel Messi as both players have eight hat-tricks in the competition. With the Portuguese star back in the familiar environs of Old Trafford, where he first made his name, Ronaldo will fancy his chances of taking sole ownership of the record.
Manchester United have drawn Villarreal, Atalanta and Young Boys in this season's Champions League. With Ronaldo likely to be available for all of these matches, he could score a record-setting ninth hat-trick during the group stages.
#3 Cristiano Ronaldo could win his 4th Premier League title
Cristiano Ronaldo is a three-time Premier League winner. He won all three of his titles with Manchester United during his first stint at the club in the 2000s.
Twelve years later, Ronaldo arrives at a club that has not triumphed in the competition since the retirement of the legendary Sir Alex Ferguson in 2013. However, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has a formidable team to call upon this season. United have been bolstered by quality summer arrivals in winger Jadon Sancho and centre-back Raphael Varane.
Ronaldo has familiarity with the competition, having scored 84 goals in 196 Premier League matches across six seasons. With quality players like Paul Pogba, Bruno Fernandes and Harry Maguire around him, he could help United end their nine-year Premier League title drought this season.
#2 Win his sixth Champions League title
Cristiano Ronaldo is a record five-time Champions League winner. No other player in the Champions League era has won more than four titles in the competition.
Ronaldo has won four Champions League titles with Real Madrid and one with Manchester United. But the record goalscorer hasn't won the competition since his three-peat with the Merengues between 2016 and 2018.
With Juventus failing to get past the quarter-finals in all three seasons Ronaldo was with them, the Portuguese hasn't been able to add to his tally. But with Manchester United having an arguably better team than the Bianconeri, Ronaldo will fancy his chances of winning a record-extending sixth Champions League title. It would also be his second with the Red Devils after their triumph in 2008.
#1 Win a 6th Ballon d'Or award
Cristiano Ronaldo has a rich haul of five Ballon d'Or awards, only one behind Lionel Messi's record tally of six.
The Portuguese has won the coveted award in 2008, 2013, 2014, 2016 and 2017. Ronaldo has had a prolific calendar year thus far, scoring 20 goals for club and country. But Juventus failed to win Serie A and the Champions League during the 2020-21 season. Defending champions Portugal also faltered at Euro 2020, meaning Ronaldo's chances of winning the Ballon d'Or award this year do not appear very strong.
But with a strong 2021-22 season for Manchester United and Portugal that yields big titles, Ronaldo could win a sixth Ballon d'Or award next year. That's because United appear to have the team to compete on multiple fronts this campaign.
