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7 hours ago
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Manchester United legend Gary Pallister has shared his thoughts on Cristiano Ronaldo's second stint at Old Trafford, claiming that the timing was not right for the Portuguese icon's return to his former club.
Ronaldo arrived at Man United for a second time in 2021 following his three-season tenure at Juventus. While his return to Old Trafford appeared to be something out of a fairytale, it clearly did not end like one.
The Red Devils have been struggling in the past seasons, and even though he registered 27 goals in 54 games, things did not seem to work out between the English squad and Ronaldo.
The five-time Ballon d'Or winner's contract with Man United was terminated in November 2022 following a bad fallout with then-head coach Erik ten Hag. Ronaldo then went on to join Saudi Pro League side Al-Nassr in 2023.
Now, former United defender Pallister has stated that Ronaldo would have been 'far better off signing' for the Red Devils' archrivals instead of returning to Old Trafford.
What did Gary Pallister say about Cristiano Ronaldo's second Manchester United stint?
Prior to making the move back to Man United, Ronaldo was linked with a transfer to several other clubs, including Manchester City.
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Pallister stated that a move to the Etihad would have helped the 40-year-old star forward and told Betvictor,
"Cristiano Ronaldo will never be forgotten for what he did in his first spell. But then again, he left. The second spell, I never thought it was a good idea for him to come back at that time. Looking at it from afar, he would have been far better off signing, if indeed Man City were interested, for City," as per GOAL.
"I think he would have gone on to score a lot of goals for Man City if he'd have gone there. I think he chose the wrong time to come back to Manchester United. It would have tugged on the heart strings, no doubt, coming back to a place that he loved playing at."
Pallister further went on to say that Man United were not 'good enough' for Ronaldo, and added,
"But we weren't the team for Cristiano to go into. We weren't good enough, we weren't going to create him the chances because he's a player that plays in the box and he comes alive in the box and Man City would have got him into them areas and he would have scored the goals – we needed more from Cristiano at Manchester United and I don't think he was capable of doing the running that he did in his pomp."
"I just think it was the wrong time for Cristiano to come back to Manchester United and it probably has affected that reputation that he built up. But looking at the club right now, you can understand his frustrations at the time."
Ronaldo has recently signed a lucrative two-year deal with Al-Nassr, keeping the hope alive for fans to see him at the 2026 World Cup.
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