(London) He had returned like the prodigal son to Manchester United, the club where he exploded at the highest level: a year later, after “drying up” the resumption of training on Monday, a departure from Cristiano Ronaldo no longer belongs to science fiction.
Posted at 10:28 a.m.
“Family reasons”: the reason given by the Red Devils, according to the English media, to explain the absence of the Portuguese at the training center, while all his teammates were present, strongly resembles a poor excuse.
In any case, he will do nothing to lighten the atmosphere around the player who has leaked his discomfort in the press.
For ten days, he has said to himself that “CR7” is unhappy with the laborious recruitment of his club, while Manchester City or Liverpool have already done most of their shopping.
United have reached a verbal agreement with Christian Eriksen, according to the media, and the arrival of Dutch left-back Tyrell Malacia should be announced soon, but these recruitments will probably not be enough to make United competitive against City, the Reds or Chelsea .
Playing supporting roles in the Premier League and only playing in the Europa League, after he has participated in 19 consecutive C1s, for five trophies, does not correspond to the image he has of himself, despite his 37 years. .
A departure that would suit everyone?
Especially since his first season after his return was mixed: satisfactory in accounting terms, with 24 goals in all competitions which made him the team’s top scorer, but in the game, it often creaked.
In a team that has never managed to find its style of play, Ronaldo’s lack of defensive work without the ball has often been seen as a big problem, along with his lack of automation with his teammates.
Arriving at the very end of the transfer window, he had hardly had time to refine them, but the progress over the season has not been spectacular either.
The arrival on the bench of Erik Ten Hag, a technician who likes his team to press high and work a lot, does not suggest great compatibility between the coach and his star either.
He therefore asked the club to let him go in the event of a “satisfactory” offer, wrote the TimesSaturday.
Officially, Manchester is not a seller and intends to see the player honor the second year of his contract.
But behind the scenes, the Red Devils see the interest in not retaining a player against his will, however emblematic he may be, especially when his integration remains hypothetical and he costs them more than 500,000 euros. ($780,000) per week.
Difficult to find drop off point
Therefore, even if the club has already lost Paul Pogba, Jesse Lingard, Edinson Cavani, Juan Mata and Nemanja Matic, all at the end of the contract and without bringing a pound to the club, the door is not completely closed.
Contacts have already taken place between the player’s agents and representatives of Chelsea and Bayern Munich, without anyone really knowing on whose initiative or especially for what result.
These leads do not look very promising.
Even if they lost Robert Lewandowski, 36, betting so much on a 37-year-old player would contrast sharply with the Bavarians’ transfer policy, and it is hard to see how Ronaldo would fit into the game advocated by Thomas Tuchel.
Napoli, 3e from the last Serie A and therefore qualified for the C1, would not be against the idea of bringing in its biggest star since Diego Maradona.
But it’s unclear whether the interest is truly mutual and Ronaldo’s salary claims could also be a major hurdle.
His participation or not in the lucrative pre-season tour in Thailand and Australia will in any case be a first element of the answer to know if a happy ending is still possible between Ronaldo and Manchester United.