What if Cristiano Ronaldo never left Manchester United.
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Real Madrid sign Franck Ribery and keep Arjen Robben

It was reported that the Bayern Munich winger was Real's plan B and with no Ronaldo to force Robben out of the club, we could have seen 'Robbery' in the Spanish capital as opposed to Bavaria.

Michael Owen goes to Hull

Owen would never have angered every Liverpool fan on the planet.

Man Utd win the 2010 Premier League and Champions League

Considering United only lost out on the 2010 title by a single point, you can bet that they would have pipped Chelsea to the crown with an improving Ronaldo in the side.

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And they likely would have progressed past B.Munich seeing as they don't have Robben to score THAT volley in this alternate reality.

They would have booked their place in the final by defeating Lyon and on the evidence of their win over Inter Milan the past season

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Wesley Sneijder moves to Old Trafford

And with Inter Milan no longer in a position to demand big money for Sneijder, the Dutchman would have secured a move to Old Trafford after shining for the Netherlands at the 2010 World Cup.

Massive changes at Chelsea

Ancelotti's sacking from Chelsea in real life endures as one of the harshest dismissals in living memory, so predicting the same fate for him after a trophyless debut season in this alternate reality seems pretty spot on.

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This would likely open the door for Ashley Cole to sign for Real, encouraging Roman Abramovich to replace him with Fabio Coentrao and reluctantly meet Atletico Madrid's £40 million valuation for Sergio Aguero.

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As for Ancelotti's replacement, Guus Hiddink is a pretty sound guess considering his popularity with the players and the fact he did indeed return in 2015/16 on an interim basis in real life.

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Liverpool win the Europa League and keep Rafael Benitez

An Atletico without Aguero could have opened the door for Liverpool to win the 2010 Europa League title, meaning Rafa Benitez would dodge the sack by defeating his real-life replacement.

Newcastle suffer relegation

Benitez sticking around at Anfield would also mean no Andy Carroll or Luis Suarez in the winter of 2011, meaning that Newcastle wouldn't have £35 million to play around with under Alan Pardew.

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By HITC's estimations, that would mean no fifth-place finish for the Toon in 2011/12, nor Europa League qualification, and a swift return to Championship football.

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Tottenham sign Andy Carroll and sell Harry Kane

On that basis, you just know that Carroll would have signed for another top Premier League club, so Tottenham seems a fair guess and that could spell disaster for none other than Kane.

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It's predicted that Kane would be shipped off to a club like Crystal Palace where, after inevitably impressing for two seasons, he'd be snapped up by Liverpool instead of Christian Benteke down the line.

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Chelsea win the 2010/11 title, but then United regain it

But anyway, back to Ronaldo. Chelsea could lift the 2011 Premier League title with a fit and hungry Aguero leading the line, only to relinquish it again the following season as a prime CR7 came into his own.

Jose Mourinho moves to Man City and spends big

During this Chelsea-United duopoly, Sheikh Mansour would have been forced to spend more than ever, splashing out on players like Robin van Persie, Daniele de Rossi and Luis Suarez from Ajax.

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Roberto Mancini would have been sacked for failing to win the league in two and a half seasons, making Mourinho a clear replacement after struggling against Pep Guardiola at Real without Ronaldo to reply upon.

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Andre Villas-Boas and Louis van Gaal at Liverpool

Now this is a long one to explain... Owen's goals would mean Hull stayed up in 2010, meaning Nigel Pearson would remain at Leicester and Brendan Rodgers never would have earned the Swansea job.

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That, in turn, would ensure that Rodgers - who might have taken a coaching role at Manchester City - would not be named as Liverpool manager, rather the highly-rated Villas-Boas would be.

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And considering Van Gaal was set to become Liverpool's Sporting Director until Rodgers requested otherwise, the path would have been clear for the Dutchman to oversee the AVB era.

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Jurgen Klopp replaces Ferguson at Old Trafford

With Ferguson hanging up his hairdryer after Mourinho wins back-to-back titles with his bottomless pit of money at City, the Red Devils turn to Klopp as opposed to David Moyes as his replacement.

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That's because Borussia Dortmund could foreseeably have been crowned European champions with Robben unable to score THAT Wembley winner by way of playing for Real.

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Man Utd win three consecutive league titles

So, with Klopp and Ronaldo working together in their primes, it's predicted that United would win three Premier League titles on the bounce and two Champions League crowns for good measure.

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That means Leicester's miracle victory would never have happened.

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End of thread. It's a good story.

Obviously, it's nigh on impossible to predict the sort of butterfly effect that Ronaldo choosing United over Real could possibly have had, but don't pretend as though it isn't fun and exciting to imagine.

The article from @GiveMeSport