At the start of this summer transfer window, Jadon Sancho was clearly the number one target at Old Trafford. After missing out on a deal last year, the 21-year-old was once again Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s first pick after the disappointing Europa League final loss to Villarreal.
The embarrassing two-month pursuit of Sancho last summer aside, this year the deal was completed with next to little fuss, and an agreement for his transfer was announced at the start of July.
After that, Raphael Varane joined him and was unveiled by the club ahead of the Premier League curtain-raiser against Leeds on August 14. The general consensus among supporters was that United were done in terms of incomings but when Manchester City came dangerously close to signing Cristiano Ronaldo, United’s owners, the Glazer family, decided to press ahead with plans to hijack the deal.
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That’s according to the Manchester Evening News, who detail the timeline of Ronaldo’s sensational comeback to Old Trafford. It’s claimed that a motive behind Ronaldo returning to Manchester United was partly to get fans back on their side, having seen thousands join protests amid the launch of the disgraced Super League last season.
Furthermore, the Glazer family also feared that another backlash from supporters was due if they allowed Ronaldo to join their fierce rivals without any attempt to swoop in.
An initial announcement of Ronaldo re-signing for the club was made last week and now, the 36-year-old has passed a medical – an official announcement is expected in the next 36 hours.