Manchester United icon Cristiano Ronaldo left the club under a cloud.
Three years ago this month Cristiano Ronaldo‘s spell at Manchester United came to an abrupt end when his frustration with the club boiled over.
Ronaldo’s final game was a 3-1 defeat at Villa Park in which he captained the club, amid a rocky relationship with manager Erik ten Hag.
Days earlier Ronaldo made his final goal contribution for Manchester United, setting up Alejandro Garnacho for his first ever senior goal.
Ronaldo setting up Garnacho was symbolic
Ronaldo’s exit turned sour with the way he effectively forced a contract termination with an explosive interview.
But there was something symbolic about the way his final meaningful contribution in a Manchester United shirt was to set up a player who dreamed of becoming his successor.
Garnacho was the Manchester United academy kid who idolised him, and could not believe he was sharing the same pitch as Ronaldo.
For Ronaldo to set him up to score a winning goal was poetry.
And for the next two years, Garnacho was living the dream.
The Manchester United winger got more and more involved with the first team. He went on to become the club’s youngest goalscorer in an FA Cup Final since Cristiano Ronaldo in 2004, when he netted against City in 2024. Kobbie Mainoo broke that record minutes later.
Unhappy United ending for Garnacho
While Cristiano Ronaldo could not wait to be free of Erik ten Hag, Alejandro Garnacho felt very differently.
Garnacho was upset when Erik ten Hag was fired, and even more dismayed when his successor Ruben Amorim introduced a new tactical system that did not suit him.
Garnacho ended the 2024/25 season axed from the squad, and he was sold in the summer to rivals Chelsea.
This was the one thing Ronaldo never did; join a Premier League rival.
He was strongly rumoured to be heading to City in 2021 before United swooped, and we will never know if he would have gone through with it.
But we do know that when the chance to join United came around, he jumped at it, even if it was the riskier move, and as he quickly learned, the club was not set up for success.
Garnacho meanwhile seems miserable at Chelsea, and he is held in low esteem by Manchester United fans, a talented kid who threw it all away.
With the right mentality Garnacho could have still been a fan favourite at United, a player worthy of Ronaldo passing the torch to.
Instead he seems likely to go down as another promising player who failed to fulfil his potential, despite having every chance.
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