The excitement greeting the Manchester United icon has a complicating factor. How do we navigate this part of the story?
Cristiano Ronaldo may well make his return for Manchester United at Old Trafford on Saturday. On the pitch or not – every camera will be fixed on him. Every stretch. Every light jog. Every side-foot pass. Every stepover. Every perfect header.
Whether he is what Manchester United need is a different question, but for the club and the Premier League it is an incredible signing. Thirty-six years old, still breaking records, still generating the headlines, still demanding the shirt numbers.