Transfer Window in football is ongoing and the fans are excited and looking forward to what goes through. The big money moves, deadline day transfers make the off-season interesting as well. Every window we see big names being linked to many clubs and 100 million signings happening as well.
However, we rarely see a transfer window of such stature which we can only call “goated.” The two greatest players of this generation, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi both getting transferred in the same season. This transfer window has thrown us some exciting moves but these two transfers top all of them.
Lionel Messi, after being unable to renew his contract moved on to Paris Saint-Germain on a free transfer. Whereas, in a very surprising turn of events Cristiano Ronaldo has got his ‘homecoming’ after a move back to where it all started, Manchester United. If a couple of years back, you had told some of the football fans that Lionel Messi will not retire at Barcelona and Cristiano Ronaldo would move back to Manchester United, no one would have believed it. Such has been the stature of these 2 transfers that it has amazed the footballing world.
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Lionel Messi To PSG (Paris Saint-Germain)
Why did Lionel Messi leave Barcelona?
A move for Lionel Messi was expected last summer after he publicly announced his willingness to leave. However, after Bartomeu was sacked, Messi stayed put. Once Joan Laporta came in, it was expected Messi would stay in the new project. The president himself publicly announced his wish of renewing Messi’s contract.
With the Euros and Copa America on, no one paid attention to the fact that Messi was actually out of contract, with the assumption being he will renew after his vacations. However, Messi who also wanted to stay was informed by the Barcelona board that they could not register him. Salary cap issues and large debt meant Barcelona had to part ways with their legend.
How did Lionel Messi to PSG happen?
When arguably the greatest player in the world, is available for free, many clubs would want him. However, given his huge salary cap, not everyone could have afforded him. Hence, when it was clear that Lionel Messi could leave Barcelona, there were two viable options. A reunion with Pep at Manchester City or a reunion with Neymar at PSG. However, with Manchester City signing terms with Grealish a day before. It meant there was only one place where Messi could go, that was Paris.
PSG jumped at the chance of bringing the greatest no.10 onto their team. The project that PSG was building and having signed Ramos, it was logical for Messi to move there and have a last possible chance of winning the Champions League. Money was never a problem for PSG so the move was easy to go through. The move also means that football fans would be able to see a Messi-Neymar reunion, the duo which led Barcelona to the treble in 2015.
A transfer that was rumored in the past but never expected to happen, did go through. A brilliant transfer which at that time was the best of this transfer window.
Cristiano Ronaldo Homecoming To Manchester (Manchester United)
Why did Cristiano Ronaldo leave Juventus?
Perhaps a move that came more as a shock than Lionel Messi’s transfer was that of Cristiano Ronaldo. Since the transfer window started, there were no signs that Ronaldo could leave Juventus. Apart from the rumoured transfer to PSG, the Ronaldo camp was pretty quiet. It was only in the last week, that the news started coming out about Ronaldo wanting to leave.
Max Allegri, after reappointment had made it clear that Dybala would be at the centre of his new project and Ronaldo will be rotated. A player of Ronaldo’s stature and legacy meant he had to be the center of any team going forward. Even in the last years, there have been criticisms of Juventus not making proper use of Cristiano Ronaldo.
Ronaldo felt that going forward, Juventus will not be the team that will suit him through the twilight of his career and wanted a move away.
How did Cristiano Ronaldo to Manchester United happen?
When Cristiano Ronaldo intended to his agent Jorge Mendes about a move away from Juventus. The first club he offered the star player was Real Madrid. However, the 13-time winners were firm on getting Mbappe and rejected the chance of getting their highest goalscorer in history, back. With PSG too, publicly denying their intentions to sign Ronaldo, the only possible option was a move back to Premier League.
When the reports came out about Cristiano Ronaldo, the former United legend being offered to Manchester City. There was havoc in Manchester. The United faithful went haywire and rightly so. The news of a possible move to a rival club of Manchester United, the place where Ronaldo’s legacy started, did not go down well with football fans.
Reports suggest that Sir Alex Ferguson and United legends decided to intervene and stop Ronaldo from going to Manchester City. Manchester United although having previously rejected a chance to sign Ronaldo considered the move and did make it happen.
It was official. The transfer that broke the social media numbers and rightly topped this crazy transfer window was that of Cristiano Ronaldo’s homecoming. The journeyman was returning to the place he left 12 years ago, this time being one of the greatest players in the world. A surprising transfer which no one expected and a crazy 24 hours, from almost joining Manchester City to returning to Manchester United, the drama was unreal.
Conclusion
Many big transfers happened this window with Ramos, Lukaku, and Varane switching clubs. However, this transfer window will be remembered forever. As the transfers of the two best players in the world, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.
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