How will Manchester United line up with Cristiano Ronaldo, 4-3-3 or 4-5-1?

Cristiano Ronaldo is back at Manchester United. That is something that the club’s fans have dreamed about for over a decade now. And it is finally set to become reality.

The Red Devils have shown tremendous progress over the past few years. They finished second in the Premier League last season and reached the final of the Europa League as well. But at the end of the day, the club have not won a trophy in four seasons now and will be looking to bring an end to that streak as soon as possible.

With the additions that they have made this summer, they should be very confident of doing that though. The club had already signed Raphael Varane, Jadon Sancho and Tom Heaton in this summer transfer window. And now with the addition of Ronaldo, this has been an incredible transfer window for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side.

Now, the question is, how will the Red Devils line up this season with Ronaldo? It certainly opens up a number of different possibilities.

How will Manchester United line up with Ronaldo?

4-3-3

Now, it goes without saying that Ronaldo is no longer a winger, like he was during his first stint at Old Trafford. He will most likely feature as a striker in this team. That of course could mean that Cavani has to sit on the bench despite his impressive performances for the club last season. If Solskjaer decides to go for a 4-3-3 formation, this is how they could line up:

De Gea; Wan-Bissaka, Maguire, Varane, Shaw; McTominay, Pogba, Fernandes; Sancho, Ronaldo, Rashford.

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4-5-1 or 4-1-2-2-1

On the other hand, Solskjaer could decide to go with a 4-5-1 formation with Fernandes falling a bit deeper than he would be in an attacking midfield position and shore up the numbers in the middle of the park. Someone like Fred could act as the most defensive of the midfield trio while Pogba and Fernandes operate in front of him with the aim of creating chances for the forwards. Also, Greenwood and Sancho can play as the two wingers while Ronaldo plays the role of a focal point in attack:

De Gea; Wan-Bissaka, Maguire, Varane, Shaw; Fred; Fernandes, Pogba; Greenwood, Sancho; Ronaldo.

It will certainly be interesting to see how Solskjaer tries to get the best out of Ronaldo at this stage of his career. The manager will also need to make sure that he gives enough minutes to the likes of Greenwood, Martial, Rashford, Cavani and others through the course of the campaign.