Returning to Manchester United in great fanfare last season, Cristiano Ronaldo’s second spell at Old Trafford simply hasn’t gone to plan.
He was unable to help them get anywhere close to a title, with the Red Devils finishing a miserable sixth in the Premier League, and the arrival of Erik ten Hag has changed very little.
Manchester United have lost their two opening games for the first time since 1921, failing to overcome Brighton and Brentford, with the later dismantling Ronaldo and his teammates 4-0.
This has led to even more talk of the Portuguese forward leaving the club this summer, and AS in Spain reckon he has ‘two escape routes’ at his disposal right now.
The first are Borussia Dortmund, whose summer striker signing, Sébastien Haller, will have to ‘be out for a period of time to undergo treatment for a testicular tumour’.
While the Bundesliga side ‘found an emergency solution with the signing of Anthony Modeste’, it’s clear the 34-year-old ‘is not a guarantee like Cristiano Ronaldo’.
That’s why ‘there are contacts’ between Dortmund and Ronaldo’s camp, although that’s as far as AS are willing to go for now.
The second option presented to the Manchester United man is a return to Sporting CP, the club where he first broke out and caught the eye of Sir Alex Ferguson all those years ago.
While there would be numerous obstacles to overcome, namely the player’s wages, there’s a belief ‘the influence of Jorge Mendes, who has just closed a deal with Sporting of #€45m + €5m in variables for the transfer of Matheus Nunes to Wolverhampton, cannot be underestimated either’.
If you ask us, this all seems a bit desperate, seeing as few clubs, if any, will be willing to take on Ronaldo’s wages at this point in the transfer window, and it seems far more likely that the Portugal international will have to see out the final year of his contract (ignoring the option of an extra year) at Old Trafford without Champions League football.
