Transfer journalist: 'Nobody' wants to sign Cristiano Ronaldo from Manchester United

It appears superstar Cristiano Ronaldo may already be out of legitimate options if he is serious about leaving Manchester United this summer to join a club that qualified for the upcoming season's UEFA Champions League competition. 

Ronaldo remained away from his employer throughout its preseason tour of Thailand and Australia but returned to the United training ground on Tuesday morning, along with agent Jorge Mendes, to discuss the future with manager Erik ten Hag. While some had linked Ronaldo in rumors with Atletico Madrid, club president Enrique Cerezo stated later on Tuesday that signing the 37-year-old is "practically impossible" because of financial reasons. 

On Wednesday, TalkSport transfer journalist Alex Crook appeared on the "White and Jordan" show and strongly indicated Ronaldo may want to get comfortable with the idea of staying at Old Trafford for another year. 

"He can say as many times as he likes that he wants to leave the football club, but he needs to find someone willing to take him on," Crook said, per Natasha Everitt of TalkSport. "At the moment, the super clubs, the Champions League clubs that he yearns to play for aren’t forthcoming." 

Along with Atletico Madrid, Chelsea, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain, Napoli, and Bayern Munich are among would-be buyers who have reportedly rejected chances to sign Ronaldo this summer. According to Sky Sports News, Bayern chief executive Oliver Kahn repeated previous remarks and recently told Bild that signing CR7 "would not fit into our philosophy in the current situation."

"Again overnight, Oliver Kahn at Bayern Munich has said he does not fit the play they want to play. Paris Saint-Germain are not following up the owners' interests," Crook continued during his comments. "So, the question for Ronaldo – with Thomas Tuchel also not interested in taking him to [Chelsea], even though they don’t have an out and out striker on their books – who is going to sign Cristiano Ronaldo?

"The answer at the moment is nobody." 

ESPN reported Tuesday that "United would be open to offloading Ronaldo if a club outside the Premier League was prepared to take on the final 12 months of his £500,000-a-week contract," and Mendes has apparently informed clubs his client would "take a significant pay cut, potentially as high as 30%" to sign with a Champions League side. Despite all that, the five-time Ballon d'Or winner seems stuck at United until further notice.