Longtime rival Lionel Messi warned Cristiano Ronaldo that it might not be easy for him to return to Manchester United in the summer of 2021.
Cristiano Ronaldo was forewarned by Lionel Messi that his grand homecoming transfer to Manchester United last summer was unlikely to go as planned.
The extraordinary transaction happened in the same month that Messi finished his well-publicized transfer from Barcelona to Paris Saint-Germain. Messi has now found his best form for his team in his second season after initially falling short of expectations in the French city.
The Argentine, who has previously expressed unhappiness in Paris, has since reaffirmed that he is content in both the city and the club, and hopes to extend his stay. This is in contrast to Ronaldo, who this week ended his partnership with United amicably after the player's shocking comments with Piers Morgan.
While Ronaldo's fortunes at the club he joined a year ago have improved, the same cannot be said about Messi's. Despite much fanfare surrounding his return to United after a 12-year absence, things did not go as expected.
Despite the Portuguese superstar's 24 goals across all competitions, United slipped from second place to a distant sixth, 11 points outside the top five, last season. All players' performances took a turn for the worse after the striker arrived.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was fired due to his team's recent form collapse, but things did not get any better under temporary manager Ralf Rangnick. Since Erik ten Hag was hired in the summer, United's performance has significantly improved. ten Hag frequently left Ronaldo out of the starting lineup.
Messi responded to a question from Marca last November regarding Ronaldo's transfer to the Red Devils after Solskjaer was fired by saying, "United are a very powerful club with excellent players. Although Cristiano was already familiar with the team at one point, he has since made a remarkable adjustment.
"He has scored goals as usual from the start and has adjusted with ease. Even though the Premier League is not as good as we all believed, it is still a very challenging tournament where events frequently change course. Everything changes after December, and anything can happen.
When Ronaldo and Messi faced off against one another in La Liga from 2009 to 2018, Messi was asked if he missed the regular competition: "We stopped playing in the same league a very long time ago. For the same objectives, we engaged in team and individual competition. The audience also thought it was a very beautiful stage since they had a great time. It is a lovely moment that will live on in football history."