Madrid fans call for return of Cristiano Ronaldo following Mbappe saga

Madrid fans have responded to Kylian Mbappe renewing at Paris Saint-Germain by calling for the club to bring back Cristiano Ronaldo.

The 37-year-old Portuguese left Real Madrid after nine years for Juventus in the summer before the 2018/19 season. In that time, he won four Ballons d’Or to add to his lone one from his first stint at Manchester United.

He also won two LaLiga Santander titles and four UEFA Champions League trophies to add to his one from Man United. But most notably, Ronaldo became the club’s highest goalscorer of all time by scoring 450 goals from as many appearances in that nine year stint.

He achieved that superb feat by averaging between 40 and 50 goals for eight of the nine seasons he was at the club.

Since his exit, the club have been unable to replace him. They finally recognised his replacement in Mbappe and went after him with so much vigour. Fans even went as far as chanting Mbappe’s name at the Santiago Bernabeu in their penultimate game of the 2021/22 season, believing that his arrival was imminent.

The 23-year-old broke their hearts and signed a mega contract to remain at PSG on Saturday, however, to the delight of PSG fans.

#CristianoVuelve hashtag goes viral

After expressing their disappointment in the way the whole event played out, Madrid fans immediately began a social media campaign to convince the club to bring Ronaldo back to the team.

Ronaldo has since rejoined Man United where his career began, but has been unable to make any big difference at the club. He has scored 18 goals in 30 games in the Premier League so far and 24 goals in 38 appearances in total this season.

Not only has it been his lowest scoring season, but this season’s United has been the poorest team he has played in as well as this being his poorest overall season.

Ronaldo is set to miss out on Champions League football this season as United sit in sixth place on the Premier League table. This will be the first season in his professional career that he will miss the competition.

Amid speculations that Ronaldo will leave Madrid to search for Champions League football, Madrid fans have trended the #CristianoVuelve hashtag to get the club’s directors to consider bringing their legendary attacker back to the club.

It was reported in January by The Mirror that president Florentino Perez was going to consider bringing Ronaldo back if they fail to land Mbappe. Madrid fans have chosen to remind Perez of this as they prepare for the new season.

It remains to be seen if the club will make a move for Ronaldo who is reported to be keen on staying at United and working with their new manager Erik ten Hag.