Cristiano Ronaldo's return to Manchester United was the modern-day rendition of Jesus' resurrection as the five-time Ballon d'Or winner revived his legacy by using Manchester City's interest to birth a new era at Old Trafford, showing exactly why United were right to wait for Christ's emergence.
Ronaldo has seemingly birthed a new era at United, already rolling out the red carpet for Anthony Elanga and Mason Greenwood to soak up the 36-year-old's habits, in a ploy that would not have been possible had Ole Gunnar Solskjaer not exiled Romelu Lukaku.
The stars had aligned in 2019 and the Belgian left leaving a goal-scoring void behind at United, but the club's patience has finally come to fruition as Ronaldo's unrivalled presence prevails.
Lukaku joined United in 2017 from Everton for £75 million and looked as if he was the real deal; Premier League experience, international talisman, a leader.
Despite a rosy start to life at Old Trafford under Jose Mourinho, the Belgian directly contributed towards 23 goals in Premier League clashes, leading United to an impressive second-place finish behind a record-breaking City.
However, after an uninspiring turn of results the following season, Mourinho was sacked and the side were soon thrown under the spotlight with the Belgian's eye-watering transfer fee a hot topic.
The Portuguese boss' dismissal triggered a turn of events that spelt the end for Lukaku and rather paved the elusive return of another certain Portuguese icon three years later.
Solskjaer took to the helm of Old Trafford to revive the club's identity but clashed with the now-Chelsea striker, with tensions coming to a boil.
Questions began to be raised regarding Lukaku's demeanour and mentality towards United as his name started to hit the front page more than it hit the back.
He picked up his first disciplinary sanction after leaking private training ground information, revealing the physical conditions of players in the squad that may have been beneficiary for Premier League rivals.
Lukaku tweeted a video, which has since been deleted, exposing Juan Mata and Luke Shaw as the slowest players at United, which put him at risk of serving disciplinary action enforced by United.
In what was initially just a tweet in jest to tease his fellow teammates, the striker faced serious consequences which left him feeling isolated by Solskjaer to the end of his tenure, according to The Athletic.
However, the series of events that fuelled Lukaku's abrupt conclusion to life at Old Trafford highlight, today, why the Red Devils were right to banish him, even despite his mouth-watering goal record.
The striker went on to reportedly cause more havoc going 'AWOL' over the summer by not turning up for training in a bid to push for a move, seeing him reap £400,000 in fines, according to Mail Online.
United were left frustrated seeing Lukaku train with his former side, Anderlecht Under-18s, as the Belgian looked to stay fit while a move to Inter Milan was in the offing.
Solskjaer lost one of the world's most gifted strikers, the Norwegian was able to stamp down on the law and moral code at United while waving aside critics of his own.
Lukaku's departure cultivated United's next generation, but Reds had to be patient waiting years for the harvest to finally blossom as an old face returned to yield the start of a new era.
