Cristiano Ronaldo’s shock return to Manchester United has seen the club’s stock market value rocket by £212m at one point on Friday.
On Thursday, it looked inevitable that Ronaldo would ignore his previous loyalties and sign for Manchester City, which would consequently put an end to their search for a striker.
However, over the course of Friday, the tide turned and in a fast-moving deal, Ronaldo was announced as a United player for the second time in his career.
United will pay £20m for the 36-year-old, managing to pay a cut-price figure for the forward due to his contract in Italy running out next season anyway. He has now agreed to a two-year contract at Old Trafford.
But it wasn’t just the United faithful that went wild after seeing the announcement that Ronaldo would return to the Theatre of Dreams after 12 years away, the stock market did too.
When Ronaldo was announced on United’s social channels, share prices in the club rose by an almighty 9.8%.
On Friday morning, United’s share prices opened at $17.38 (£12.62) but they soon soared to as high as $19.09 (£13.87), which means that the club’s overall market value rose by $293m (£212m).
As many expected, the shares then fell slightly after the initial shock factor passed. However, it is still up by more than 6%.
Will Ronaldo be a success back at Manchester United? Have your say in the comments.