English club Manchester United had let go of Argentine winger Ángel Di María to Ligue 1 champions Paris Saint-Germain for a fee of £45.4 million and is reportedly going to use the cash earned to sign a big-time player before the summer transfer window closes.
Metro's Jamie Sanderson reported that the big-time signing might be former United and now Real superstar Cristiano Ronaldo.
Red Devils manager Louis van Gaal had always been outspoken about his team's desire to re-acquire Ronaldo amidst rumors that the Portugal captain is presently unhappy with the La Liga club. The 63-year-old Dutch coach was especially vocal this summer, even predicting that he would bring back Cristiano to Old Trafford before he retires in 2017.
Sanderson indicated in his article that the Bernabéu giants are only willing to let go of their prized forward for a price not lower than £127.3 million, which is almost thrice the amount of the Di María deal.
Van Gaal was realistic, though, as he told reporters that it is impossible for United to acquire Ronaldo at present because of the extremely high fee that Los Blancos require.
The Independent mentioned four other possible options for van Gaal to sign if Ronaldo will not be available, namely Juventus striker Fernando Llorente, Bayern Munich attacking midfielder Thomas Müller, Barcelona winger Pedro, PSG forward Edinson Cavani, all of which would demand a significant fee.
United made five summer signings so far, and only one of which is a free signing. The Premiere League club had already spent £82 million to acquire Memphis Depay from PSV Eindhoven, Morgan Schneiderlin from Southampton, Matteo Darmian from Torino, Bastian Schweinsteiger from Bayern Munich, and Sergio Romero from Monaco on loan from Sampdoria.