Cristiano Ronaldo Did Not Return To Manchester United Out Of Loyalty

The five-time Ballon d’Or winner moved to Old Trafford from Juventus last summer for a second term amid much fanfare.

He scored 24 goals in all competitions but United finished six in the Premier League and failed to qualify for the Champions League.

TalkSPORT’s Alex Crook believes the emotion that surrounded his initial comeback was a “false narrative” and it broke down exactly why.

The 37-year-old was linked with arch rivals Manchester City last summer before opting to join United, something Kroc believes was not done out of emotion.

“I think Ronaldo owes Manchester United. I think he owes them because they were the only club that was willing to pay half a million for him a year ago.

“There is a false narrative, in my opinion, that he joined United out of loyalty and love for the club, and that he might not have been able to wear the Manchester City blue shirt. That is utter nonsense in my opinion.

“The reason he didn’t come to Manchester City is because there was no particularly strong appetite to receive him there. Certainly there was no strong appetite from Pep Guardiola.

“Yes, Manchester United was a disaster last season, but Ronaldo must have been blind if he didn’t know what he was going for!”

City chose not to sign the striker last summer and instead wait until 2022 to sign Julian Alvarez from River Plate and Erling Haaland from Borussia Dortmund.

Kroc continued: “I think it will be better this summer, they did it [United] I got Eric Ten Hag, which is a strict disciplinary system. Ronaldo still scored 24 goals last season and doesn’t have the mobility he provided in the first round, but he knows how to put the ball in the net. In the end, this is a precious commodity.”

United allowed Liverpool a free-kick at Darwin Nunez because they had Ronaldo in their ranks and were not linked to any other attackers.

Ronaldo missed training on Monday and Tuesday and the status of his preliminary round is unknown.