Is Manchester United player’s agent right about Ronaldo’s arrival?

Manchester United signed Cristiano Ronaldo from Juventus the summer transfer window in what proved to be an incredibly popular move. And the Portuguese superstar is already starting to look like a brilliant addition, having scored three goals in his first two appearances for the Red Devils so far, since returning this summer.

Manchester United were sensational with their incomings this summer. The club brought in Tom Heaton on a free transfer to increase the strength in depth in the goalkeeping department. They also signed Jadon Sancho from Borussia Dortmund and Raphael Varane from Real Madrid.

It is safe to say that most fans would have been content with those three signings. But they went a step further by bringing back Ronaldo to the Theatre of Dreams, more than a decade after leaving the club for Real Madrid.

His arrival might see the playing time of some players, who were already at the club, decrease. One man who has struggled for minutes at Old Trafford is Donny van de Beek. And his agent felt that Ronaldo’s arrival was bad news for the midfielder.

Is Ronaldo’s arrival really bad news for Van de Beek’s Manchester United chances?

Speaking to Ziggo Sport and as reported by GOAL, Van de Beek’s agent, Guido Albers, said about a couple of weeks back that Ronaldo’s arrival was ‘bad news’ for the midfielder as it would increase competition in the middle of the park with Pogba moving down the pitch:

"“Cristiano arrived on Friday which we knew was bad news for us. Pogba plays on the left, and with Cristiano’s arrival it means another extra player in midfield, with Pogba moving away from the left.”"

Interestingly, it is after the arrival of Ronaldo that Van de Beek has played his first minutes of the season for Manchester United.

It was against Newcastle United, which was Ronaldo’s second debut for the Red Devils, that he came on as a substitute. Then he started against Young Boys in the UEFA Champions League group stage opening game although he was taken off at half-time because of a tactical switch which was most probably brought about due to Aaron Wan-Bissaka’s first-half red card as Varane came on in the Dutchman’s place.

He was doing well against Young Boys though before he was brought off and it remains to be seen if he continues to get minutes moving forward.