Manchester United star Cristiano Ronaldo, who has a contract expiring in 2023, is reportedly pondering his future at the Premier League side. It is believed that a source has told the Daily Star that the 36-year-old veteran might depart United this summer once the current season comes to an end, depending on the next manager.
In August 2021, the Red Devils lured the Portuguese natural-born winner back to Old Trafford to help them meet their goal of winning trophies once more. Sadly, it has not been the case. In spite of the fact that the star forward has 14 goals in 22 appearances, the off-the-field situation in Manchester has not been ideal.
It was the German expert and former Leipzig boss, Ralf Rangnick who took over as an interim manager after Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was fired in November. However, Cristiano has already told the Utd management that he is not fond of the idea of Ragnick staying at the club. Moreover, even if the 63-year-old takes up the advisor job at the end of the season, the future of the Portuguese superstar could still be up in the air.
Issue with Ralf Rangnick and his successor
Despite his heartwarming return, Cristiano Ronaldo is reportedly unhappy at Manchester United. Many things are at stake, starting from the ambitions of the team to their disappointing results, and the poor support from his teammates. However, the report claims that CR7 sees Rangnick as the major culprit.
The Portuguese ace does not rate the interim coach, and he believes that Rangnick is incapable of getting the most out of him and the team. In addition, the veteran allegedly thinks that his manager has a bad influence on the young players, that he is selfish, and that he does not respect the fans, failing to deliver what everyone expected of him.
Ronaldo's main objection is that the current coach can't bring any trophies to Old Trafford, and his possible successor would also have to meet these requirements. An interesting fact it's considered that he thought the same about Rafael Benitez at Real Madrid and Maurizio Sarri at Juventus.
Possible tension with teammates
The five-time Ballon d'Or winner was brought back to fix things at Manchester United, but were the Red Devils in need of any fixing? Aston Villa legend, Gabriel Agbonlahor, who earned three caps with the English national team in his career, has suggested United sell the 36-year-old next summer.
"You've seen the change in Bruno Fernandes since Ronaldo came in. Fernandes was the key man before Ronaldo arrived, now Cristiano is the key man. He led the team against Wolves as captain. When Harry Maguire was out before Ronaldo arrived, Fernandes was captain, but now Bruno is on the bench. There will be a lot of tension there.
"When you look at the scenario as a totality, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will see he made a mistake by bringing Ronaldo in. Yes, Ronaldo scores, but he has scored goals that Mason Greenwood and Marcus Rashford would have scored in the same situation. I would let Ronaldo leave in the summer, in my opinion, in order to allow Greenwood, Jadon Sancho, and Rashford to team up", said Agbonlahor in an interview with Football Insider.
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