Two things that will decide if Ronaldo leaves Man Utd
FT Desk
- 3 Aug 2022 23:05 BST
- 3 min read
The Cristiano Ronaldo saga at Manchester United shows no sign of ending any time soon.
Ronaldo revealed his intentions of seeking a new club at the start of the summer, with the goal of continuing in the Champions League.
That objective is impossible at least this season at United, after a disappointing sixth-placed finish consigned the Red Devils to the Europa League for the coming season.
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But just days ahead of the new campaign the veteran striker appears no closer to his desired move, with precious few big clubs coming forward with interest in a transfer.
Nor does the panorama inside Old Trafford appear any more encouraging.
Having missed almost the entire pre-season period through personal reasons, Ronaldo finally re-appeared last week and played the first 45 minutes of Sunday's 1-1 friendly draw with Rayo.
But even that did little to clarify matters, as the player left halfway through the second half after coming off at the break and earned a sharp rebuke from manager Erik ten Hag.
Will he go, then, or will he stay? A couple of indicators will go a long way to resolving Ronaldo's United dilemma - perhaps to put it more accurately, United's Ronaldo dilemma.
What will happen with Ronaldo?
According to CBS journalist Ben Jacobs, his future hangs on two key factors.
“Two things will happen to get to the bottom of whether Ronaldo will or won’t definitively leave, whether permanently or on loan," Jacobs explains.
"Number one is can Manchester United find a replacement or another attacking alternative. If they bring in an attacker first, we’ll see if they soft on their not-for-sale stance on Ronaldo.
"The second is that Ronaldo doesn’t have a concrete offer. If one comes, that will be a test as well.”
Ronaldo was greeted as a hero on his return to United from Juventus at the start of 2020-21.
In front of goal at least the striker did not disappoint, scoring 24 goals in all competitions to lead the way for the Reds.
But results in general were disappointing, leading to the dismissal of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and an underwhelming interim stint for Ralf Rangnick - as well as questions over whether the Portuguese was the right man for United at this late stage in his career.
