Cristiano Ronaldo is set to re-sign for Manchester United, the club announced on Friday, subject to personal terms, visa requirements, and a medical examination.
The Premier League giant announced that he had reached an agreement with Juventus for the 36-year-old, who scored 118 goals in 292 games during his first spell at Old Trafford.
“Everyone at the club looks forward to welcoming Cristiano back to Manchester,” read a short statement from the club.
Before joining Real Madrid in 2009 for a then-world-record fee, the five-time Ballon d’Or winner enjoyed six successful years at Manchester United, winning three league titles and one Champions League.
He will now reunite with former teammate Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, who praised Ronaldo prior to the agreement earlier on Friday.
“Cristiano has been a legend of this club, he is a legend of this club, he’s the greatest player of all time, if you ask me,” the United manager said during a news conference.
Juventus manager Massimiliano Allegri said earlier on Friday that Ronaldo would not play for the Italian club again after expressing his desire to leave.
Ronaldo was linked with a move to Manchester City, United’s bitter rivals, but nothing came of it.
In his first two seasons with the Old Lady, Ronaldo won the Serie A title, but he was unable to lead the Italian club to the Champions League title, a competition he won four times with Real Madrid.
Juventus finished fourth last season, and with less than a year left on his contract, speculation about Ronaldo’s future has been rife.
“Today, I depart from an amazing club, the biggest in Italy and surely one of the biggest in all of Europe,” Ronaldo wrote on Instagram after news of the agreement broke.
“I gave my heart and soul for Juventus and I’ll always love the city of Turin until my final days.”
He added: “In the end, we can all look back and realize that we achieved great things, not all that we wanted, but still, we wrote a pretty beautiful story together.”
The agreement’s details have yet to be revealed, but the news sent Manchester United’s stock, which is publicly traded in the United States, soaring by 8%.
Ronaldo joins Jadon Sancho and Raphael Varane, both former Real Madrid teammates, as United’s new summer signings in a bid to return to the top of European and domestic football.
The team has had a mixed start to the season, winning 5-1 against Leeds before drawing 0-0 with Southampton, and the addition of Ronaldo could give the team a huge boost in experience.
The forward is regarded as one of the greatest players in history, having won over 30 major awards during his career.
During Euro 2020, he tied Ali Daei of Iran for the most international goals scored with 109.
“Welcome home Cristiano,” Manchester United captain Harry Maguire wrote on Twitter in response to the news.
