Man Utd call Sir Alex Ferguson to convince Ronaldo to stay?
Daniel Edwards
- Updated: 26 Jul 2022 14:24 BST
- 3 min read
Manchester United will not give up on their bid to keep Cristiano Ronaldo at the club for the 2022-23 season, calling in an Old Trafford legend to convince the striker to stay put amid widespread exit rumours.
Ronaldo informed United at the start of the summer that he did not wish to stay another year following a disappointing first term back in the Premier League.
While individually the forward was as consistent as ever in front of goal the Red Devils struggled all through the 2021-22 campaign, eventually finishing a lowly sixth to miss out on Champions League qualification.
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The former Real Madrid and Juventus star is keen to continue playing in Europe's biggest club competition, where he has enjoyed sparkling success over the course of his career, and that motivation more than any other was reportedly behind his decision to look for a new club.
Chelsea and Bayern Munich are two of the sides which have been linked with his services, though no concrete approach from either has been confirmed.
For now, though, the veteran has reported back to training with United at Carrington after sitting out their pre-season tour of Thailand and Australia, but he was not the only one reporting for duty.
Can Fergie change star's mind?
Ronaldo's former United boss and mentor Sir Alex Ferguson was also present at training, leading to obvious speculation that the legendary manager had been drafted in to help change the Portugal star's mind about leaving.
Ferguson of course played a crucial role last summer in steering Cristiano back towards Old Trafford following interest from rivals City, something the player himself later acknowledged.
"As everybody knows, since I signed for Manchester [United] at 18, Sir Alex Ferguson was the key. I remember when we played against Manchester when I was at Sporting Lisbon," he told United's official website.
"For me, Sir Alex Ferguson is like a father in football for me. He helped me a lot, he taught me many things, and in my opinion of course he had a big role because of the relationship that we had, we keep in touch all the time, and he’s an unbelievable person.
"I really like him a lot and he was the main key for me to be in the position that I am, that I signed for Manchester United."
Ronaldo finished last season with 24 goals in 38 games last season in all competitions, a tally good enough to take United's top scorer crown.
