KEY POINTS

  • Ronaldo moved from Juventus to Man Utd this summer
  • Ronaldo recently had his first training session with Solskjaer and Co.
  • He is expected to make this first appearance of the season Saturday

Cristiano Ronaldo’s return to Manchester United has given Ole Gunnar Solskjaer a "luxury problem" in terms of a number of attacking options on his side, according to former Red Devils star Dimitar Berbatov.

Manchester United recently welcomed back Ronaldo, who was teammates with Berbatov at Old Trafford between 2008 and 2009.

The Red Devils had a busy 2021 summer market as they strengthened their attack by signing Ronaldo and their long-term target Jadon Sancho. The squad already boasted the likes of Marcus Rashford, Anthony Martial, Mason Greenwood and Edinson Cavani.

Solskjaer needs to chalk out a plan to keep all his goalscorers happy and juggle his attack to secure as many games as possible in the ongoing season.

"This is a problem; a luxury problem. When you have Sancho, Rashford, Greenwood, Martial, Cavani and Ronaldo, how do you keep everyone happy here? It is possible, but it’s also near impossible because you’re always going to have someone who is not happy with his playing time, and this is the job of the manager now: how to manage all these connections, playing time and keep everyone happy," Berbatov was quoted by Goal, as saying in an interview.

Ronaldo recently was relieved early by Portugal so that he could land in Manchester at the earliest and begin to prepare ahead of his maiden appearance for the Old Trafford side. The 36-year-old legend met Solskjaer earlier this week and underwent his first training session as a new Red Devils player.

With Manchester United’s Premier League clash against Newcastle scheduled to take place Saturday, one could expect Ronaldo to play in front of a charged-up Old Trafford crowd. Solskjaer has even insisted that Ronaldo has not been bought to sit on the bench and Berbatov expects the ex-Real Madrid superstar to be a regular starter, especially in the season's biggest matches.

Manchester United announced a deal to re-sign Cristiano Ronaldo on Friday
Manchester United announced a deal to re-sign Cristiano Ronaldo on Friday AFP / PAUL ELLIS

"Players will need rotating, but I expect Ronaldo to start important games, because when the game isn’t going well you need that special someone that can bring that spark and win you the game. But let’s not forget Ronaldo is 36 and the Premier League is very fast with a lot of games, so he will be rotated around the team for sure," added Berbatov.

After the opening three fixtures of the 2021-22 Premier League, Manchester United are placed third in the table with seven points.

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