GARY LINEKER has revealed Cristiano Ronaldo’s return to Manchester United was completed in his BACK GARDEN.
The former England striker lives next door to Red Devils chief Ed Woodward, who was heavily involved in bringing the Portuguese superstar back to Old Trafford after he left for Real Madrid in 2009.
And Lineker recently stunned football fans by telling Alan Shearer and Micah Richards that the deal was finalised in his garden.
Speaking on the Match of the Day Top 10 podcast, he said: “I’ll put my cards on the table – Ed Woodward is a good friend of mine and lives next door.
“He signed Cristiano Ronaldo when he was in my garden!
“When he walked in he was on the phone to Jorge Mendes (Ronaldo’s agent) – I hope I’m not giving too much away!
“I have a fantastic picture of him sat on the phone to him which I might share one day with his permission.”
Ronaldo has enjoyed a superb return to Man Utd having already netted five times for the club.
However, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side have struggled for results in recent weeks, failing to win four of their last seven games in all competitions.
Yet despite a difficult run of form, Shearer feels Ronaldo will enable United to challenge for trophies this season.
He said: “Man United have not been challenging over the last few years – they’re viewed differently now with Ronaldo and rightly so. They are ready to challenge.
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“Signing him was a no-brainer for Man Utd – they cannot lose in this situation.
“They sold Dan James for £25 million and brought Ronaldo in for the same price.”
Next up for United following the international break is a trip to the King Power Stadium to take on Leicester on October 16.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
