Five reasons why Cristiano Ronaldo move was the right one for Manchester United

SEALED WITH A KISS: Cristiano Ronaldo gets his hands on the Premier League trophy during his first spell at Old Trafford. Can he and United scale such heights again? Picture: PA

It makes sense financially

Crazy as it sounds, given the transfer fee for an outfield player who will have turned 38 by the time his two-year contract ends, this was not a financial risk.

The transfer fee of €15m, with a possible €8m to add on with incentive clauses, is the going rate for an average young Championship central defender.

The salary — a reported £480,000 (€560,000) a week — is obviously a different matter but, even though it may be higher than any player currently at Old Trafford, it cannot be said to have broken the clubs wage structure.

In forthcoming negotiations, team-mates can hardly complain that the player who is either number one or two on the greatest of all-time list earns more than them.

And this, remember, is the club that paid Alexis Sanchez around £500,000 (€583,000) a week for his miserable United career.

Compared to that, Ronaldo looks a bargain basement signing.

Age, also, does not appear to be a concern. The numerous chances Ronaldo has to show off his semi-naked torso show a man with the physique of a player 15 years younger.

Money makes the world go around

And, of course, all the money invested in Ronaldo can be expected to be recouped in the added star quality that he brings to a club regarded by many as the “biggest” in the world.

The commercial value that the second marriage between United and Ronaldo generates is colossal.

Whether or not Messi is better than Ronaldo; there is no question that United are a bigger “brand” and “name than PSG. The signing is a licence to print money … for both parties.

Goals, goals, goals

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said before the season started that he did not want Bruno Fernandes to carry the weight of United’s goalscoring agains this season — 24 hours later, Bruno scored a hat-trick against Leeds.

Goals are still an issue that worry Solskjaer — or they were until yesterday.

Anthony Martial looks unlikely ever to live up to his hype, Edinson Cavani is — unlike Ronaldo — a veteran player who needs to be treated carefully and Marcus Rashford is out for at least a couple more months.

The familiar sight over the past couple of seasons of United strikers missing glorious chances may be a thing of the past if Ronaldo maintain his astonishing career strike rate of 783 goals in 1,074 games for clubs and country.

Feelgood factor

The riots that fans initiated to try and remove the Glazers as the club’s owners just four months ago seemed like a moment of ancient history yesterday as supporters celebrated Ronaldo’s return.

The fact Alex Ferguson and Rio Ferdinand were involved in recruiting their former pal also offered a nice moment of connection between supporters who are tired of failing to compete for the title and their manager’s attempts to rekindle former glories. As a PR exercise, the Glazers could not have scored a greater win.

They got one over on City … for once.

The rivalry should not be underestimated and it is not an outlandish guess to believe that City’s marketing department was already working on a “welcome to Manchester” billboard campaign around the city.

That, of course, is what the club did when they poached Carlos Tevez from the Reds in 2009 and City supporters were already mocking up similar images on social media on Thursday.

On a more serious note, not only does Ronaldo add considerably to United’s squad but also prevents City from solving their acute lack of a prolific and specialist number nine. No Harry Kane; now no Cristiano Ronaldo. It will be interesting to see if Pep Guardiola lives to regret a rare transfer failure.