Cristiano Ronaldo: Man Utd stars believe they know his transfer plan

Cristiano Ronaldo must have felt more than just a little sheepish when he lined up in the Europa League on Thursday night.

When Ronaldo brought his three-year stint at Juventus to a close last summer, part of the idea was that he wanted to maximise his chances of securing both team and individual trophies in the twilight years of his career.

However, as much as returning to Manchester United has indeed been a fairy tale for the sentimental fans amongst us, it most certainly hasn’t been a fairy tale from a footballing perspective.

The Red Devils’ attempted Premier League title charge crashed and burned within a few weeks as the Ole Gunnar Solskjaer era imploded and Ralf Rangnick’s interim reign culminated in disaster.

The end result was United’s worst ever season in England’s top-flight since the 1992 rebranding and crucially from Ronaldo’s point of view, no more Champions League football courtesy of a sixth-place finish.

That, of course, led to a series of events where Ronaldo – often nicknamed ‘Mr. Champions League’, lest we forget – tried to push for a move away from Old Trafford this summer only to seemingly be rejected by every European club and their dog.

As such, there we were: watching the head-scratching sight that was Ronaldo lining up in Europe’s second-string competition, no doubt wondering how on earth he’d gotten there.

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