Ronaldo arrives at Utd training base for talk on future at Old Trafford
Ronaldo reportedly wants to play for another team ater only one year back at Old Trafford, with United not in the CL this season or in shape to compete with the best teams in England
Cristiano Ronaldo arrived at Manchester United’s training ground with his agent on Tuesday with the Portugal great’s future at the English club up in the air.
Ronaldo has yet to start preseason training with United - he missed the team’s tour of Thailand and Australia - and is set to hold talks with recently hired manager Erik ten Hag.
Ronaldo’s agent, Jorge Mendes, was pictured in the car driven by Ronaldo entering United’s Carrington training base.
British broadcaster Sky Sports News reported that Alex Ferguson, the former United manager who signed Ronaldo for the player’s first spell at the club from 2003-09, arrived at Carrington earlier Tuesday. Ferguson played an influential role in persuading Ronaldo to return to United last year.
The 37-year-old Ronaldo reportedly wants to play for another team ater only one year back at Old Trafford, with United not in the Champions League this season or in shape to compete with the best teams in England. United finished in sixth place in the league last season, 35 points behind first-place Manchester City.
United has said Ronaldo has not returned to training yet because of “personal reasons.” Ten Hag has repeatedly said he is counting on Ronaldo being part of the squad this season.
Ten Hag has previously said their star striker is “not for sale” and “in our plans”, but it has been reported that Ronaldo wants to play Champions League football.
The Portugal superstar shocked United earlier this month with his bombshell exit request ater the team’s failure to qualify for the Champions League. Ronaldo would have anticipated a host of top clubs jostling to sign him.
But for the first time in his glitering career he is no longer a must-have item for Europe’s wealthy elite as Chelsea, Bayern Munich, Barcelona and Paris Saint-germain all appear to have turned their backs on the forward.
Concerns over Ronaldo’s declining work-rate and his notoriously demanding personality have let the 37-year-old in limbo.
Chelsea co-owner Todd Boehly was reported to have spoken to Ronaldo’s agent Jorge Mendes about a deal to mark the new era at Stamford Bridge.
But Blues boss Thomas Tuchel is believed to have concerns about trying to integrate Ronaldo into his plans for a fluid front three ater signing Raheem Sterling from Manchester City.
“We focused on our top target Raheem Sterling who we signed and everything else stays behind closed doors,” Tuchel said when asked about Ronaldo.
Selling Robert Lewandowski to Barcelona could have created space for Ronaldo at Bayern, but the German champions’ CEO Oliver Kahn poured cold water on that idea.
“As highly as I rate Cristiano Ronaldo as one of the greatest, a transfer wouldn’t be a fit with our philosophy,” he said.
“I love Cristiano Ronaldo and everyone knows how fantastic he is. But every club has a certain philosophy and I’m not sure if it would be the right thing for Bayern and the Bundesliga if we signed him now.”
If United does allow Ronaldo to join another club, it leaves ten Hag short of center forwards in his squad and with litle more than a month let in Europe’s summer transfer window to bring in a replacement.
In Ronaldo’s absence, Anthony Martial has been playing up front and impressed on the preseason tour, scoring three goals in four games.
Martial spent the second half of last season on loan at Sevilla last year, scoring one goal, so it could represent an unlikely second chance for the French striker.
Uruguay striker Edinson Cavani was one of the players to leave United during this offseason because his contract expired.
United has been linked with the signing of Ajax forward Antony.
Ronaldo, who was United’s top scorer with 24 goals last season, has been training at the Portuguese national team’s headquarters in Lisbon.