How Manchester United's Ed Woodward re-signed Cristiano Ronaldo in Gary Lineker's backyard

The 2021 summer transfer window will be considered one of the most entertaining ones; it saw Lionel Messi sign for a club other than Barcelona and Cristiano Ronaldo resign for Manchester United. Ronaldo's transfer was one for the ages, with initial reports suggesting that he could join United's cross-town rivals Manchester City but then made a u-turn and decided to return to Old Trafford. Match of the Day presenter Gary Lineker spoke about how his neighbour, who happens to be United's chief executive Ed Woodward, completed Ronaldo's return in his backyard.

"I'll put my cards on the table, Ed Woodward's a good friend of mine - he's my neighbour. He signed Cristiano Ronaldo when he was in my garden," Lineker said on Match of the Day's Top 10 podcast. "It was awesome. I knew when he walked in and he was on the phone to Mendes (Jorge Mendes, Ronaldo's agent) or someone. I hope I haven't given too much away here but he did sign him. I got a fantastic picture of him on the phone in the back garden which I might share one day with his permission."

The prodigal son returns

Ronaldo's return to Old Trafford could not have been better; he started in United's league game against Newcastle and managed to score a brace as the Red Devils thrashed Newcastle 4-1. He then scored again in United's win over West Ham before scoring two more in two UEFA Champions League games, including a dramatic injury-time winner against Villareal. However, not everything has been goals and wins for the five-time Ballon d'Or winner as he was recently benched for United's 1-1 draw against Everton in the league, and he was not happy with the decision to start from the bench.

United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has defended his team selection and went to say that not starting Ronaldo was the 'correct decision', explaining that Edison Cavani needed the playing time.

The Norwegian coach told reporters after the match as quoted by Goal.com: "You make decisions for a long, long season and you have to manage the players’ workload. The decision was, for me, a correct one. Anthony Martial came in and did well, scored a good goal. Edinson needed minutes and got an hour, he could have scored."

Image: AP