Ole Gunnar Solskjaer says Manchester United made “the right decision at the time” to re-sign Cristiano Ronaldo, but admitted “it didn’t work out for me or him”.
United signed Ronaldo from Juventus in the summer of 2021 for a fee of €15million, plus €8m in add-ons. Rivals Manchester City were believed to be holding talks with the player’s representatives before he made a return to Old Trafford, having initially joined from Sporting Lisbon in 2003.
Ronaldo’s second spell, however, did not go to plan, with Solskjaer being sacked midway through the 2021-22 campaign and United finishing sixth in the Premier League.
The 39-year-old’s contract was eventually terminated at United after The Athletic reported that the club had started a legal process against Ronaldo for breach of contract after his interview with Piers Morgan.
Speaking to The Overlap, Solskjaer said: “I was excited so I said ‘yes’ (to signing him). They asked me (the board) ‘would you want us to try this?’ so I said yes.
“He was 37 but I thought we’d have to manage (him), he is the best goalscorer in the world.
“It was my decision, it didn’t work out for me, it didn’t work out for Cristiano but it was the right decision at the time.”
Ronaldo had a difficult second spell at Old Trafford (GLYN KIRK/AFP via Getty Images)
Ronaldo conducted a highly-critical interview prior to the 2022 World Cup in which he accused his former employers of betrayal and took swipes at head coach Erik ten Hag, as well as the club’s hierarchy.
Ronaldo said he “felt betrayed” by United in an interview with Morgan. The forward added that he felt he was being forced out of United “not only by the coach (Ten Hag), but also by two or three other people around the club”.
Solskjaer also spoke of the impact Ronaldo’s arrival had on his team, revealing that the Portugal international complained to him that he was not starting every match.
“We started off straight away thinking how we are going to press and change the little tweaks,” Solskjaer added.
“Cristiano is different to Antony Martial who was up front, or whether we would play Mason (Greenwood) or Marcus (Rashford) up front. Edinson Cavani was the one that suffered the most when Cristiano came in — we’d played and got Edinson into a certain way of understanding the way we played.”
Solskjaer added: “With the ball, with him in the team, it was no problem. Without him (pressing), we had to change a little bit the different roles we’d gotten used to. We were one of the highest pressing teams before (Ronaldo joined). We let Dan James go when Cristiano came in, and they’re two different types of players.
“When he arrived at the club, he wanted to play three or four games, because he realised he was getting older. But when you leave him out once, he’s not happy, or Sir Alex isn’t happy.”
(Manchester United/Manchester United)
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