Kieran McKenna raised concerns over Manchester United's decision to re-sign Cristiano Ronaldo in the summer of 2021, according to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, who has opened up on the transfer saga in a recent podcast.
More than a decade after leaving Old Trafford, five-time Ballon dOr winner Ronaldo made a much-anticipated return to United for around £12 million plus add-ons.
He went on to score 24 goals in his first season back but after a much publicised fall-out with Erik ten Hag – when he admitted to having "no respect" for the manager – his contract was terminated in November 2022.
To this day, Ronaldo's short spell at United remains a talking point. In fact, former manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has once again discussed the transfer in a podcast with Norwegian outlet NRK,
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"It was probably a wrong choice for all of us," he admitted regarding the signing of Ronaldo, "But we felt it was the right decision then and there."
Solskjaer went on to recall a conversation with then-assistant manager Kieran McKenna, who decided to do his research as the idea of signing Ronaldo was being discussed internally.
McKenna, who is now in charge of Premier League new boys Ipswich Town, is said to have gone 'straight into the analysis room' to watch the last six games Ronaldo had played in for Juventus.
Solskjaer remembers what McKenna said afterwards. "How are we going to defend ourselves? That's the first thing he says," the Norwegian added.
Earlier this year, Solskjaer spoke in further detail about Ronaldo's arrival.
Speaking on an episode of Stick to Football – brought to you by Sky Bet – he said: “I was excited so I said ‘yes’ (to signing him). They asked me (the board) ‘would you want us to try this?’ so I said yes.
"He was 37 but I thought we’d have to manage (him), he is the best goalscorer in the world. It was my decision, it didn’t work out for me, it didn’t work out for Cristiano but it was the right decision at the time.”
Solskjaer, who was sacked by United after a 4-1 defeat at Watford in November 2021, would later admit that Edinson Cavani was the player who suffered most from Ronaldo's arrival.
He also detailed how their style of play changed when he featured in the team.
“We started off straight away thinking how we are going to press and change the little tweaks,” he said.
“Cristiano is different to Antony Martial who was up front, or whether we would play Mason (Greenwood) or Marcus (Rashford) up front. Edinson Cavani was the one that suffered the most when Cristiano came in — we’d played and got Edinson into a certain way of understanding the way we played.”
Topics: Cristiano Ronaldo, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Manchester United, Kieran McKenna
Jack Kenmare