Wait, what? Cristiano will play for Manchester United, again?

VICTORY is a noun that was very synonymous with Manchester United, especially when the English football empire was fathered by the great Sir Alex Ferguson.

Winning every match had been the priority of the club, and that’s why the football club had been an august home for those international stars who can be victorious to the team.

As a Red Devil fan since David Beckham’s off-the-pitch appearance was like a member of the Backstreet Boys, lifting the UEFA Champions League trophy in 2008 was, to me, unforgettably historic. Despite missing the penalty shootout, Cristiano Ronaldo was hailed in the dramatic final as a heroic player who headed a meaningful goal for a football club he truly loves until today.

Cristiano Ronaldo’s love for Manchester United is, as I believe, immortal. Regardless of uncountable figures luxuriously earned by him after his departure from Manchester, his heart always belongs to Manchester United, the homeground where his name was fanatically screamed.

“Cristiano Ronaldo is coming back!”

Yes, he is. It’s not fictional that the legendary football star will return to Old Trafford. It’s real.

As those unpaid speculators may say, Cristiano’s return would not be impactful to the club. To them, United will be the last stop before he calls it a day in football.

For those who have witnessed his fortunate rise in football, the specially-gifted talent possessed by the Portuguese footballer has been phenomenal that he has crafted a new world history of football.

Cristiano was not welcomed in football through red-carpeted backdoors. Unlike some leaders who boast their ‘contributions to the world’ although none of them is impactfully beneficial, Cristiano is a living legend who exemplary proves that being a footballer isn’t just about scoring goals and winning titles, but it is also about living a life with respect earned from our deeds.

His legend has changed the way the world defines “excellence”, not just in football but also in life generally. Every excellence that paints him as a person has been meaningfully motivational to the world.

His story of success is not the same as the story of success of some politicians, whose nothing-but-rhetoric ghostpenned books left unpurchased on dusty shelves in unpopular bookstores in your town.

Cristiano’s success is the real success that no dictionaries can descriptively define. His maiden appearance in the United’s match against Bolton eighteen years ago was the beginning of a story of a star whose fate in football is as shiny as the shoes of your brainless politicians.

His return to the club who prestigiously staged him as a worldly icon will too be remembered as a new history especially when Solskjaer, the current boss, used to be his netbustering partner during their good old days as the Ferguson’s boys.

Surely, the future presence of Cristiano in the United’s first-eleven line-up will be a marvellous addition to the team. His first ball-touch will be the first capture of our pairs of eyes and his iconic goal-celebration will be made frontpage of many newspapers.

His comeback to the Old Trafford is much different to the political versions of comebacks that you infamously called “recycled leadership”. Cristiano Ronaldo’s comeback to Manchester United will be refreshing to the English club that he will significantly leave an unforgettable imprint in the world of football.

“Maybe they hate me because I’m too good.”

---

* Amerul Azry Abdul Aziz is an independent writer who now views politics as something that can be researched.

** The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the position of Astro AWANI.