Former Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer made an honest admission that Cristiano Ronaldo's return to the club in 2021 didn't go as expected.
Ronaldo moved to United in the summer of 2021 in what was regarded as the "grand comeback" but the transfer didn't work as despite being the club's top scorer in 2021/22, the club didn't perform up to the mark and went trophyless.
The Portuguese netted 24 goals in the 2021/22 season but could only get three to his name in 16 appearances in the first half of 2022/23 under Erik ten Hag.
Things didn't work out and Ronaldo eventually ended up leaving the Red Devils following an explosive interview with British TV personality Piers Morgan where he stated that he doesn't "respect" Ten Hag.
Solskjaer opened up about how difficult it got with the arrival of Ronaldo as the entire team had to readjust to accommodate the Portuguese.
"We started off straight away thinking how we are going to press and change the little tweaks," Solskjaer told the Stick to Football podcast. "Cristiano is different to Antony Martial who was up front, or whether we would play Mason [Greenwood] or Marcus [Rashford] up front.
"Edinson Cavani was the one that suffered the most when Cristiano came in – we'd played and got Edinson into a certain way of understanding the way we played.
"With the ball, with him in the team, it was no problem. Without him [pressing], we had to change a little bit the different roles we'd gotten used to. We were one of the highest pressing teams before [Ronaldo joined]. We let Dan James (Daniel James) go when Cristiano came in, and they're two different types of players."
He revealed that the decision to bring Ronaldo back was to get that energy he brings to a club and although it happened, it came with its setbacks.
"Part of signing Cristiano Ronaldo was getting that passion from him, but that did have its complications," he added.
"You've got Mason Greenwood, Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial, who can learn from Cristiano as he's the best, the most disciplined and he's been the best player in the world, and you think he's going to help them.
"When he arrived at the club, he told me to start him for three games in a row, and then put me on the bench for the fourth game, but he's so passionate so when I did that, he didn't like it.
"It was a very quick decision. We didn't think Cristiano was available and that he was going to move. When it became apparent that he was leaving Juventus, obviously there were other clubs that wanted him – but I was excited."
Solskjaer backed his decision to sign Ronaldo from Juventus when he was on the verge of joining arch-rivals Manchester City.
"They [United] asked me, "Would you want us to try this?". I said yes – obviously we know Cristiano is quality, and he's 37, but we have to manage – he's the best goal scorer in the world. It didn't work out for me, it didn't work out for Cristiano, but it was the right decision at the time," the former manager added.
"When I was manager of Manchester United, I can't remember too many problems from Cristiano Ronaldo. It was the game against Everton when he walked straight off the pitch after I brought him on as a substitute, but there were more problems with him after I had left the club.
"I had a good relationship with Cristiano and there's loads of respect between us. I think he behaved really well in his disappointments when I was there."