September 10, (THEWILL) – Action in the English Premier League resumes on Saturday with fans of the Red Devils desiring to see their returned icon, Cristiano Ronaldo, back in the famous red of their club’s colours and ready to take on the challenge of the EPL one more time.
These fans have been hanging on every word about the possibility of seeing Ronaldo in the starting lineup from Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer ahead of the September 11 home fixture against Newcastle on Saturday, but Solskjaer has been defiantly reticent about this bit of information.
After a fast tracked, near-deadline rollercoaster move ended up with Ronaldo returning to Old Trafford from Juventus 12 years after his departure to Real Madrid, United had to wait until after the international break to unleash Ronaldo.
As THEWILL reported, Portugal released Ronaldo early after he was penalised by suspension over his overzealous celebrations of his last-gasp goal that helped Portugal defeat the Republic of Ireland and made him the all-time highest goal-scorer in international men’s football.
Upon returning to United, Ronaldo joined the squad training when he came out of quarantine, and he is expected to be on the pitch at Old Trafford on Saturday. What is not exactly known is whether he will be in the starting lineup or begin the game on the bench.
And Solskjaer was keeping his plans close to his chest when he commented on this. The manager, who played alongside Ronaldo as teammate, said: “He’s been good. Of course, we’ve followed his career from afar since he left here.
“I think everyone’s very, very happy to have him back. He can speak for himself but he seems happy to be back as well. The mood’s been very good, working well and we’re looking forward to Saturday.
“He’s been having a good pre-season with Juventus, he’s played for the national team, he’s had a good week with us here. He’ll definitely be on the pitch at some point, that’s for sure.”
United’s healthy transfer business that saw the coming of Jadon Sancho and Raphael Varane into the team was already positive team reinforcement moves but the signing of Ronaldo immediately catapulted United into Premier League title contention status.
Solskjaer was exercising moderation when he noted that the Portugal star was going to add a new dimension to the team: “Everyone evolves and develops throughout their career.
“Cristiano is a different player to one who left but he’s in such good nick still and he will be looking in the next few years to play as much as he can, to score as many goals as he can, he’s a threat from direct set-plays himself, but also to be on the end of crosses and he’s adding something extra.
“We don’t have his skill-set in the team, the mix of his. No one has, really! He is one of the best players that’s ever played the game.”
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
