Cristiano Ronaldo - second time around for Manchester United.

 Cristiano Ronaldo - second time around for Manchester United. 

It was hardly the best kept secret in footballing circles. We somehow knew they would and they did. Manchester United, quite predictably, have re-signed their talisman, the one and only Cristiano Ronaldo. Ronaldo is their all conquering hero, their darling and poster boy, surely one of the most popular and influential players ever to wear the red for Manchester United since the Frenchman Eric Cantona. He was the one who was convinced that sardines and trawler fishing boats could be applicable in a footballing context.  Eric Cantona was undoubtedly one of the most charismatic and philosophical of footballers, a Manchester United goal scoring striker of arrogance and impertinence. 

But now Manchester United have hit the jackpot again. When Cristiano Ronaldo thought he'd given everything he could possibly give to Juventus, he turned his thoughts to the club who had given him a perfect platform for his intellectual footballing brain, a chance once again to prove that his unique powers of self expression could give United a second Renaissance.

So Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, United's manager had the courage of his convictions and decided that Ronaldo had that innate capacity to not only become the definitive match winner but could also change the direction of a game with a deceptive sleight of foot and that lovely body shimmy that leaves defenders completely bamboozled. To say Ronaldo is a world class performer would surely be an understatement and the Portuguese hardly needed any persuasion or even  second thoughts when United came calling. 

At the age of 36 though the doubters, cynics and sceptics may well have been sitting in judgment just waiting for Ronaldo to fail miserably. Surely the flamboyance has now well and truly gone, surely the magical touches no longer at his disposal and how much longer can you keep doing it at this level? We all have been made aware of his powers of enchantment, the ability to lift an otherwise lifeless and listless League game into another mystical dimension. 

When Ronaldo was winning trophies galore at Real Madrid, most observers believed that he had nothing to prove anymore, that he'd been spoilt over the years, that if he went back to United, he would merely be a shadow of the player who'd brought such glamour and prosperity to United. They thought he would be a pale parody of  his former self. How often had former players at football clubs returned to one of their former clubs and found that the furniture had changed, the decor was different and the club had simply moved on? 

Now though Ronaldo is back at Manchester United and the world is, indeed, in a complete state of horrific disarray and dislocation. When Ronaldo was last at United he could always rely on the youthful exuberance of David Beckham, Nicky Butt, Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs to give the team value, a sense of proportion, balance, presence, personality, panache and the most expressive identity. It all clicked and gelled at the same time and United would win the Premier League title for fun to the point of repetition. But here comes Ronaldo again, fitter than ever before, full of turbo charged energy and a renewed sense of purpose. 

Over the weekend the favourite son from Portugal swaggered into the corridors of Old Trafford as if he'd never been away. More so than ever, Ronaldo continues to resemble the handsome matinee idol, a man with the svelte looks of a well chiselled film star from Hollywood, a six pack stomach oozing muscularity and a player who takes a genuine interest in his appearance. Of course he could be forgiven for passing as the ultimate fashion model on the catwalk and in an age of the fitness conscious athlete, Ronaldo is the most attractive of role models. 

Ronaldo now though faces competition from the gifted likes of Mason Greenwood, Paul Pogba, Marcus Rashford, Bruno Fernandes, Antony Martial and United's new and thrusting generation of slick, slinky and suave looking entertainers. It may occur to Ronaldo at some point that the pace he once possessed in spades is no longer on tap and the instinctive ball control may be slightly the worse for wear. But he can no longer be wholly dependent on the qualities that he used to have. The dazzling step over and audacious drag back may still be in his tool box but the mind may be less than willing to co-operate.

With the immediate future of Jesse Lingard still in doubt at Old Trafford, the arrival of Ronaldo at Manchester United will be greeted with feverish delight. When the great Eusebio retired many a moon ago, Portuguese football must have been plunged into a state of deep mourning. But yesterday Cristiano Ronaldo returned to English football and for those of us who have always admired the purity and lucidity of his talent, we can only hope that this emotional reunion has the happiest of endings.