Despite scoring his 700th club goal at the weekend for Manchester United against Everton, the situation surrounding Cristiano Ronaldo isn’t going away.
Brought back to Old Trafford when Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was still in charge of the Red Devils, he ended last season as their top scorer, even though the Norwegian had been sacked in the interim, with Ralf Rangnick taking over until the end of the season.
Manchester United failed to qualify for the Champions League, and it became clear over the summer that Ronaldo wanted to leave, and a few moves were touted.
Chelsea were reportedly very interested, but Thomas Tuchel wasn’t, while Bayern Munich were also probed by Jorge Mendes, without much success.
Ronaldo eventually stayed at Manchester United, where Erik ten Hag has found more success without the Portuguese in his side than with.
This has led to the superstar being benched more often than not, which isn’t what he wants at this point of his career, especially when he feels he can still greatly contribute at the top level.
That’s why Gazzetta dello Sport are looking at who can find welcome him in January, as a stay at Manchester United ‘is far from safe’.
They say his name ‘will circulate insistently because Jorge Mendes has a clear mandate’, which is to find him club other than his current one in the next transfer window.
Ronaldo ‘wants to play in the Champions League again’, and even win it if he can, but first has to prioritise the World Cup, where he wants to be a key participant, as it will likely be his last.
As for who can legitimately give him the transfer he wants, Gazzetta whittle down the potential destinations to two, with those being Chelsea and Real Madrid.
The Blues because Tuchel is no longer there and his replacement could be more malleable than his predecessor, and the La Liga giants as Carlo Ancelotti is the manager, with whom Ronaldo gets on very well.
The problem there would be Florentino Pérez, who has previously made it clear he didn’t want the 37-year-old back due to his age.
Either way, this isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.
