Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has confirmed that Manchester United only re-signed Cristiano Ronaldo to keep him away from their rivals.

The Portuguese forward completed a dream return to Old Trafford in the summer of 2021. The Red Devils extracted him from Italian giants Juventus 12 years after he had originally left the club in a then-world record move to Real Madrid.

United weren’t the only side linked with Ronaldo that summer, though - their neighbours Manchester City were also interested and looked to be on the verge of signing him.

But the Red Devils swooped in from under their rivals' noses. And former United boss Solskjaer has now confirmed that City's interest was a factor behind the move to re-sign Ronaldo.

And he has also admitted that the veteran forward would have been a roaring success at the Etihad Stadium. Speaking at the Oslo Business Forum, he said: “Cristiano Ronaldo, one of the best players in the world the last 15 years. I played with him. He played for Manchester United.

“He has history with the club and he's leaving Juventus but we can not give him to Manchester City because he will score more goals than Erling Haaland is doing at the moment probably.

“So I speak to Cristiano. We get him to Man United but I think maybe that affected the whole dressing room, the dynamic in the dressing room.

“Maybe other players felt less important because of course this is one of the world superstars that comes in. He did well. He was top scorer that year, scored 24 goals or something, but I was out of the job 10 weeks later!”

Ronaldo enjoyed a productive first season with the Red Devils with 24 goals in all competitions. But he followed that up with just three the following campaign after falling out of favour under Erik ten Hag.

The striker eventually left for Al-Nassr after seeing his contract cancelled following an explosive interview with Piers Morgan. Speaking previously, Solskjaer admitted that it may have been a mistake bringing Ronaldo back.

As quoted by The Athletic, he said: "It was a decision that was very difficult to turn down and I felt we had to take it, but it turned out wrong.

"It felt so right when he signed and the fans felt that at that Newcastle game, when Old Trafford was rocking [after Ronaldo scored twice in a 4-1 win]. He was still one of the best goalscorers in the world, he was looking strong."