Earlier in the week, Cristiano Ronaldo claimed that when he’s back on the pitch playing for us, the fans will love him again, following a summer of speculation concerning his future. RoM readers generally thought that whilst some sections would show him support, he was likely to endure the cold shoulder from a lot of fans. That’s not to say he would get booed, rather he wouldn’t enjoy the adulation of the season just gone.
Sir Alex Ferguson confirmed yesterday that we would be reunited with Ronaldo in today’s game against Villarreal.
“He’ll certainly be involved,” said Fergie. “Whether we start him is irrespective of other players. It’s more likely he’ll start on the bench.”
Our manager also believes that Ronaldo has behaved admirably since the summer, claiming the winger doesn’t need to do anything to win us over.
“I don’t think he has to win the fans over,” he said. “They understand he is a young man who has been tempted by the lure of money. He said he would like to go to Real Madrid but he has shown fantastic maturity in the last few weeks. He has accepted the situation and got on with it. There is no pettiness and he has not thrown his toys out of the pram. There are no issues at all regarding Cristiano.”
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