Man City’s pursuit of the Juventus man looks to be very short-sighted

Man City’s pursuit of the Juventus man looks to be very short-sighted and could cause problems in the City camp.

I’ve supported Manchester City my whole life and something I never thought possible is not a million miles from happening: Cristiano Ronaldo could be about to become a Blue.

The MEN understands that City have reignited their interest in the Juventus attacker following their failure to lure Harry Kane away from Tottenham Hotspur.

The five-time Ballon d’Or winner is open to a move away from Juventus and is reportedly willing to halve his £500,000-per-week wages in order to push through a move to the Etihad Stadium.

City have opened talks with Ronaldo’s representatives, though the sticking point could be around a potential transfer fee; Juventus want at least £21 million, while City don’t want to pay anything.

Ronaldo is an incredible player, everyone knows that. But I don’t want him.

To me, the whole thing reeks of panic. City put all their chips on Kane and it didn’t come in.

Without a solid contingency plan, they now face the prospect of trying to defend their Premier League title and win an elusive first Champions League crown without a recognised striker.

Why was there no contingency plan? Because, deep down, City and Pep Guardiola know that no-one else would fit what they want. To try and crowbar Ronaldo into the side would do more harm than good. Kane was wanted not only for his obvious six-yard box prolificacy, but also his vision, his passing and his build-up play. He is a team player and ultimately that’s what Guardiola wants.

Ronaldo is not that. A lethal finisher? 672 club goals don’t lie. A brilliant passer with extraordinary vision? Of course. But that’s not how he plays. The Portugal captain has long been an out-and-out striker, a player that waits for the service and does the job.

Would he perform the off-the-ball running, the pressing, the unglamorous work required to play under Guardiola? I don’t think so.

Look at Juventus. Before signing Ronaldo in 2018 they were a fine-tuned machine. Miralem Pjanic pulled the strings, Paulo Dybala dazzled and Gonzalo Higuaín scored by the bucket load. Ronaldo’s arrival disrupted the order of things; a perfectly functioning team now had to play for him. Dybala and Higuaín were benched and Pjanic sold.

That’s the last thing City need. Who would be sacrificed for the 36-year-old; Gabriel Jesus? Raheem Sterling? Riyad Mahrez?

You can kiss goodbye to the false-nine system that’s for sure. There’s no way Ronaldo’s ego could take a three-game stint on the bench just because Guardiola fancied playing Kevin De Bruyne further forward.

Signing Ronaldo would involve City giving up one of their greatest qualities – unpredictability. You can be sure that he would start every single week. At 36 he’s past his peak, and if given a two-year contract as reports suggest, opponents could soon figure out how to stop him and City.

Then, there’s the Manchester United factor. Yes, it would be sweet, sweet payback to be able to gloat to United fans, to rub it in their faces that City have signed their favourite son, despite him saying on multiple occasions that he would never switch red for blue.

But you can’t rewrite the past. City fans don’t like Ronaldo, what he represents and what he’s done. It sounds bitter, but he’s not our legend, he’s not our hero. He’s our enemy.

There’s no doubt that Ronaldo would score goals at City, but for me, as a fan, those goals would come at a cost to the team, to Guardiola’s philosophy and to the fanbase. It just isn’t worth it.