Manchester City forward Raheem Sterling reportedly became Manchester United’s unlikely hero during the Cristiano Ronaldo transfer saga back in August.
After expressing his desire to leave Juventus, Ronaldo looked as if he was going to make a shock move to United’s arch-rivals City.
But in a dramatic late twist Ronaldo made a sensational return to former club United, with the move going through on deadline day for an initial fee worth £12.8million.
Why there was a transfer U-turn has been left open to debate, but latest reports suggest that Sterling played a significant role in Ronaldo’s move back to United.
According to The Athletic, City thought Sterling would depart the club last summer in favour of a move to Barcelona, which in turn would have created a space for Ronaldo.
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The report also claims that when Sterling decided to stay put in Manchester, there were doubts whether the Portuguese superstar could be guaranteed a starting berth.
Sterling has started in 16 of the 26 appearances he has made for the Premier League champions in all competitions this season.
The England forward has scored nine times so far – including seven in the league – and has provided three assists in all competitions.
Sterling has struggled to nail down a regular starting berth in Guardiola’s side, but has played the full 90 minutes in both of City’s previous two Premier League games against Arsenal and Chelsea respectively.
Other reports suggest Sir Alex Ferguson played a key role in convincing Ronaldo to re-join the club he left in 2009 for a then world-record fee of £80million.
Ferguson had a father-son relationship with Ronaldo during his tenure at Old Trafford after signing Ronaldo from Sporting CP in 2003.
But it certainly hasn’t been the easiest of returns for Ronaldo and United, who are in a desperate battle to make the top four come the end of the season.
Ronaldo made his return from injury to start in United’s recent 3-1 win over Brentford on Wednesday, but the Portuguese superstar appeared to be furious when he was substituted by Ralf Rangnick.
The Portuguese superstar recently insisted that anything less than a top three finish for United in the Premier League is unacceptable.
"Manchester United should win the league or be second or third,” he told Sky Sports.
"I don't see other positions for Manchester United to be honest, I don't see. In my eyes, I don't accept that our mentality be less than to be in the top three.
"We are capable to change things now. I don't know the specific way I'm a player, not the coach, the president, I know the way but I'm not going to mention it here because I think it's not ethic [sic] from my part to say that.
"What I can say and something I can say we are in control, we can do it better, all of us. Manchester belongs in important things, we have to change that.
"I don't want to be here in a club to fight to be in sixth or seventh or fifth place, I'm here to try to win, to compete. I think we compete but we are not yet at our best level. Long way to improve and I believe if we change our mind, we can achieve big things."
