Rather, not for a year or two, but for half the season and, at best, the next season. It seems that United were ready to release Ronaldo on loan, provided that Ronaldo extended the contract for another season. The idea was to bring him back if United won a ticket to the Champions League. Now the situation has changed, but a lot still depends on the results of United this season.
United is still having a chance to win a ticket to the champion league for the next season as long as this club can consistently winning the match against big club like city. United able to defeat arsenal and it was also able to do the same with city. MU has a big chance to make it happen. We know that if some big clubs like liverpools are starting to face difficult time to get full points in EPL. Remember that menchester city was also loosing against liverpool.
MU has more than enough to enter into the top 4 if the club will not face another lose or bad situation like early season.
In the Premier League, there is a huge pool of teams claiming the top 4, so even as a United fan, I'm not particularly optimistic here and cannot make any predictions (forecasts this season are especially random due to the World Cup that will break the whole season). And I would not compare Arsenal and City, I hope the Arsenal fans will forgive me, but for me Arsenal is the same clown club as United - they can win against anyone, and then lose to a clear underdog. City, unlike Arsenal, is much more stable.