Manchester United avoided the unthinkable by re-signing Cristiano Ronaldo.
Manchester City were making a serious play to sign him, SkySports reported, before United spectacularly hijacked the move.
It came in the nick of time. Manchester City had been getting ahead of themselves, as evidenced by the cocky nature of the tweets of two of their former players.
Went too soon
One of these was former Manchester City midfielder Nigel de Jong, who hoped his old club would come good.
De Jong urged City to announce the deal, when behind the scenes talks with United were already well underway.
De Jong acknowledged he got it wrong, with United going on to announce the deal. The Dutchman said he would be ‘taking the L’.
If it makes De Jong feel any better at all, he was not the only one, with former City defender Joleon Lescott putting his foot it in.
Lescott attempted to taunt Rio Ferdinand when it looked like Ronaldo was City-bound.
He volunteered to come on Ferdinand’s video podcast as soon as City clinched the deal.
Unfortunately he may not be as forthcoming and willing to discuss Ronaldo’s move to United as he was when City seemed to be leading the race.
City have been firmly put in their place by this one. There are some things their money just can’t buy, and one of them is Cristiano Ronaldo.
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