Arsene Wenger claims Manchester United’s decision to re-sign Cristiano Ronaldo was ‘not 100% rational’ and believes Solskjaer faces a ‘big challenge’ retaining the balance of the team.
The 36-year-old informed Juventus last week that he wanted to leave and United moved to bring him back to Old Trafford on a two-year contract.
Ronaldo had initially been in discussions with Manchester City but there was no way the Red devils were going to allow him to join their rivals, swooping in to hijack the deal.
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Sir Alex Ferguson is reported to have played a major role in his return, speaking to him personally, while some past and present United players also reached out to him.
Although Wenger believes it is a good story to see Ronaldo back at United, he feels the decision to re-sign him was led by emotion and it could be hard for Solskjaer to retain the balance of his team with the new player.
‘This is a love story that you want to see,’ said Wenger on BILD LIVE on Friday. ‘[He was re-signed] for more than just sporting reasons, it’s also emotional. I think the decision is not 100% rational.
‘Finding a balance in the team is a big challenge. But the players with a lot of experience still score a lot.’
Wenger also revealed how close Arsenal had come to signing Ronaldo when he was still a teenager at Sporting Lisbon.
He added: ‘He was at our training ground and even wore an Arsenal jersey! But we could only pay €4million (£3.4m) back then. [Sir Alex] snatched him from me! And for €12m (£10.2m).’
United confirmed on evening that they had been granted permission by the Premier League to give Ronaldo the No.7 jersey, with Cavani taking the No.21 – which he wears for Uruguay – after Daniel James’ exit.
‘I wasn’t sure if it would be possible to have the No.7 shirt again,’ said Ronaldo, who also goes by the moniker CR7. ‘So I would like to say a huge thank you to Edi for this incredible gesture.’
