Ex-Barça striker explained his influence to return Cristiano Ronaldo to United

The Portuguese star returned to the Mancunian institution from Juventus in 2021

17/01/2024, 09:35 PM +00:00

A former FC Barcelona player was crucial to convince CR7 to join United instead of City in 2020.

Manchester United former player Cristiano Ronaldo went under the spotlight in the last few hours after an ex FC Barcelona striker revealed his crucial role in the negotiations ending up with the signing of the Portuguese attacker for the Red Devils in 2021 after his stage at Juventus to live his second spell at the Mancunian team.

In an exclusive interview with the English journalist Piers Morgan, the FC Barcelona former player Gary Lineker revealed that he would have played a key role in the arrival of Cristiano Ronaldo to Manchester United at that time, uncovering the frenetic 48 hours lived by the Red Devils’ board in the club’s offices to ease the preference of the Portuguese for them despite of having on the table a juicy offer from Manchester City.

In this sense, it would be worth remembering that the Portuguese striker looked for some hours to be really close to signing for the Citizen, but Gary Lineker would have convinced the sporting director Ed Woodward in a personal meal in the English retired striker’s back garden as revealed Lineker himself when speaking on the latest episode of the Rest is Football with Piers Morgan.

He was crucial in Ed Woodward’s negotiations with Juventus

“Ed is a very good friend, he’s a lovely guy, genuinely a lovely guy. Cristiano Ronaldo was signed when Ed Woodward was in my back garden. That was amazing,” Lineker said, and added "He came over and we had a lunch planned. I was cooking for a few people, Ed being one of them, and a few hours later Cristiano was a United player”.