"When you buy a player like that, the secret is the balance of the team" - Arsene Wenger points out major flaw in Cristiano Ronaldo's Manchester United return

Arsene Wenger feels Cristiano Ronaldo's arrival at Manchester United has created problems for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. The former Arsenal manager believes the balance of the team was lost while trying to fit in the Portuguese star.

Manchester United signed Cristiano Ronaldo from Juventus this summer after rejecting the possibility of signing him multiple times before. The 36-year-old was in talks with Manchester City when the Red Devils decided they could not let him move to their derby rivals and signed him up.

On paper, the transfer seemed to be giving Manchester United the extra edge in taking them to the next level and winning them trophies. However, the Portuguese has not done that well so far and Wenger believes integrating him into the team has upset the balance of Solskjaer's side.

"I wouldn't say it was a mistake but certainly some emotional impact was in there because he has been a fantastic player," Wenger said, as quoted by Metro. "No, I believe Ronaldo can still score you the goals you need. Can he repeat every three games, very high intensity games? That's certainly less the case today but let's not forget he was the hero three days ago.

"When you buy a player like that, the secret is the balance of the team," he emphasized. "To play Ronaldo, he can win you games, but you need to create the balance around him."

Cristiano Ronaldo apologizes to Manchester United fans

Liverpool thrashed Manchester United 5-0 at Old Trafford last night. The Red Devils were toothless in attack, and whenever they managed to get behind the Reds' defense, they fumbled.

Cristiano Ronaldo did have a goal disallowed, but he was lucky not to get sent off towards the end of the first half. He took to Instagram to apologize to the fans and wrote:

"Sometimes the result is not the one we fight for. Sometimes the score is not the one we want. This is on us, only on us, because there's no one else to blame. Our fans were, once again, amazing in their constant support. They deserve better than this, much better, and it's up to us to deliver. The time is now!"

Manchester United are out of the EFL Cup, so they have a week's break before they face Tottenham at the weekend.