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'Welcome Home': Manchester United Announce Cristiano Ronaldo's Return

Cristiano Ronaldo returns to Manchester United from Juventus, 12 years after departing for Real Madrid.

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In what has been one of the most outrageous transfer windows in the world of football, Cristiano Ronaldo has accepted a deal that will see him move back to Manchester United.

The Portugal captain is yet to complete his medical.

"Everyone at the club looks forward to welcoming Cristiano back to Manchester," Manchester United said on Friday evening.

Earlier in the week, Ronaldo had been flirting with a move to Manchester City, arch-rivals of his former employers, after informing Juventus that he was intent on leaving at the earliest.

The 36-year-old champion returns after 12 years and will sign a two-year deal with Man United.

Ronaldo won the Premier League title thrice and the UEFA Champions League once in his time at Manchester United. He had signed for Manchester United from Sporting Lisbon for £12.2m in 2003 and scored 118 goals in 292 appearances for the club.

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Juventus boss Massimiliano Allegri had said that Ronaldo told him he "no longer has any intention" of playing for the Italian giants.

"Yesterday, speaking with Cristiano, he told me that he has no intention to stay at Juventus and for this reason, he will not be called up tomorrow [against Empoli] and he didn't train this morning," Allegri had said.

The five-time Ballon D'Or winner on his part had termed speculation about his future "a disrespect for me as a man and as a player" in a lengthy Instagram post a few days earlier.

Ronaldo won two Serie A titles with Juventus, but his time in Italy has not lived up to expectations. He had joined in 2018 after scoring a remarkable 450 goals in 438 matches in a glittering 9-year stint at Real Madrid that also included four Champions League triumphs.

United coach Ole Gunnar Solskjaer had said Ronaldo "knows that we are here" during a press conference on Friday. He also admitted that Man United player Bruno Fernandes had also spoken to his Portugal captain.

Man United have brought in and strengthened their squad with Jadon Sancho and Raphael Varane before the season kicked off, as they aim to win the Premier League for the first time since 2013.

Ronaldo would join an already loaded group of attacking options for Solskjaer featuring Fernandes, Sancho, Edinson Cavani, Marcus Rashford, Anthony Martial, Mason Greenwood and Paul Pogba.

(With inputs from ESPN, AFP)

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