According to a report first put out by The Times, but confirmed by other sources since, Cristiano Ronaldo has requested to be allowed to leave Manchester United this summer if a suitable offer for his services arrives.
Ronaldo returned to United a year ago after 12 years of absence, during which he won everything he could’ve won multiple times with Real Madrid and added two more Serie A titles with Juventus. The 20-time English champions had to move suddenly to bring him back to Old Trafford, fearing that one of their biggest stars of the Sir Alex Ferguson era might end up joining their city rivals, Manchester City.
In 2021/22, the Portuguese attacker racked up 24 goals in 37 matches in all competitions for United, which made him their top scorer of the campaign.
At the end of the season, Ronaldo repeated several times that he was looking forward to the new era at the club under Erik ten Hag, and urged the supporters and the hierarchy to be patient with the Dutch tactician.
However, it has now emerged that he is far from happy with their recruitment strategy and he doesn’t feel that the ambitions of the club at this point match his own. Keenly aware that at the age of 37 his career is approaching its inevitable end, he feels he has no time to wait for United to gradually return to where they feel they should be. Further more, Ronaldo wants to spend the remainder of his days on the football pitch playing Champions League football, which is something the five-time Ballon d’Or winner won’t be able to do in 2022/23 unless he finds pastures new.
It feels like stating the obvious, but Ronaldo doesn’t believe United will be competing for the Premier League title before the expiration of his contract next summer.
Cristiano Ronaldo has told Manchester United that he does not believe they will be in contention for the title next season 😳 pic.twitter.com/n2EReEatWs
— GOAL (@goal) July 2, 2022
