Cristiano Ronaldo’s surprise return to Manchester United is a fascinating but challenging story to report on

There is nothing quite like a big transfer to get a fan’s juices flowing and they don’t come much bigger than Cristiano Ronaldo to Manchester United.

They’re even better when they come out of the blue, just as this one did on Friday afternoon.

It looked for most people’s money that the five-time Ballon d’Or winner would be pitching up in the blue half of Manchester, rather than the red, with much of the talk centring on a return for the Portuguese superstar to the Premier League being in the colours of United’s great rivals.

Indeed, we at The Independent were told that a deal had gotten as far as personal terms with a contract having been agreed, and just a fee between the two clubs to be negotiated.

But then everything changed.

Ronaldo’s former United teammates got involved and made their pitch that he had to instead “come home”. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer made his plea public in his press conference to open the door to a surprise reunion. Behind the scenes, Sir Alex Ferguson, his former manager during his six previous seasons at Old Trafford, told him he couldn’t possibly go and play for City.

And so it proved. The Premier League champions backed out of negotiations. United were soon in advanced talks and by 5pm it was a done deal, with a social media post on Instagram, which has gone on to garner more than 12 million likes, announcing the news.

A fast-moving news story such as that one is a challenge to report on, with twists and turns changing what you are publishing.

You have to stay calm, report what you know and never be afraid to change as the thrust of the story changes.

What is for sure is that the story has plenty to go yet.

Ronaldo will make his second debut after the international break, with the eyes of the footballing world – just as he wants them to be – all on him, with confidence now high that his arrival can make the difference for United as they bid to return to the success of the last time he arrived in Manchester all those years ago.

It will be a fascinating story to track. We’ll be there to cover every bit of it.

Yours,

Ben Burrows

Sports editor