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Man Utd's best XI might not feature Cristiano Ronaldo due to Man City situation


Manchester United signed Cristiano Ronaldo in the summer transfer window ahead of Manchester City in one of the most groundbreaking deals in Premier League history

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Man Utd fans snap up Ronaldo shirts at Old Trafford

Manchester United may have signed one of the best players of all-time – but could Cristiano Ronaldo actually be detrimental to the team?

The Red Devils brought back the Portugal international over the summer in a late swoop from Juventus that has stunned the footballing world.

Undoubtedly, the Premier League has received a major boost just from Ronaldo’s arrival – 12 years after departing Old Trafford.

The transfer has been dressed up as a fairytale reunion and fans are brimming with excitement to see the five-time Ballon d’Or winner in action once again.

In shirt sales alone, Ronaldo has already broken records and his goal record demands that United become one of the favourites to win the league.








Cristiano Ronaldo walking out with Juan Mata onto the Manchester United training pitch at Carrington
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But, tactically, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer might just have more problems than he wished for – despite a striker being one of his preferred targets.

Last season, the 36-year-old continued his extraordinary goalscoring habits by grabbing 29 in 33 Serie A matches.

Yet Juventus finished fourth in the league – and only just scraped themselves into that position.

While much of that can be put down to Andrea Pirlo’s managerial naivety, recently it has paid not to play with a striker in the Premier League.





Across the road at the Etihad, Manchester City have been doing just fine without a recognised No. 9.

Sergio Aguero may have just left this summer but his best seasons did not come under Pep Guardiola’s management, where his lessening squad status came in spite of his impressive goal record.

Instead, the Catalan coach has used a number of players in the position ranging from Gabriel Jesus and Raheem Sterling to Kevin de Bruyne and Ilkay Gundogan.








Pep Guardiola’s Man City have dominated the Premier League
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City have been phenomenal in the Premier League, winning the last three out of four titles on offer – almost taking the mantle of United’s era of domination under Sir Alex Ferguson.

That is down to Guardiola’s genius and a free-spending attitude but the fact remains that they have never needed a star man leading the line.

United might feel they need such a player – and they do not get much bigger than Ronaldo – but they could easily operate with a similar system to City’s.

If you want to show your support for the Portuguese premier league player returning to English soil, 12 years after departing Old Trafford for Real Madrid in 2009 – here are the places you can buy his No7 shirt from now:

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Marcus Rashford, Mason Greenwood and Anthony Martial are a fluid front three that are young enough to develop but good enough to start for a top team such as United.

It would be up to Solskjaer to coach into them a style of swashbuckling football that would leave defenders bamboozled, such as Guardiola’s City.

What is United’s best XI this season? Comment below







Cristiano Ronaldo of Manchester United in action during a first team training session at Carrington



But putting Ronaldo into the mix could disturb that balance – the 36-year-old is vastly talented but he is not the twinkle-toed speedster that first arrived at Old Trafford.

Instead, he is more of a battering ram to aim for in the box and gobble up goals – a system that Juventus operated with but much to their disadvantage as they gave up their Serie A domination.

Long-term, it is difficult to plan around a player that is closer to 40 than Martial is to 30 and it might be for the best if he was not a key starter for the Red Devils.





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