It’s a story that we have all gotten tired of reading. Five time Ballon d’Or winner Cristiano Ronaldo is upset with Real Madrid and wants to rejoin Manchester United.
Unfortunately for Ronaldo, Real Madrid president Florentino Perez might be willing to let him go, and Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho is not interested in bringing the soon to be 33-year-old back to Old Trafford.
According to AS, Ronaldo is upset that Lionel Messi has signed a bumper new deal while Florentino Perez hasn’t kept him promise to to upgrade to his contract after Real’s 4-1 Champions League final win over Juventus back in May.
While in the past, Perez could not afford to sign Ronaldo to a new deal, the former Manchester United star is showing signs of mortality this season, managing just four goals in La Liga but scoring nine in six Champions League outings.
Real’s stuttering domestic form this season has Perez thinking of blowing up the Spanish, European and World Champions and replacing the aging BBC (Bale, Benzema and Cristiano) with younger, more athletic players.
While Bale and Benzema will attract interest from Premier League clubs, the market for a true-superstar like Ronaldo is really small.
Probably only four teams in Europe could afford his £365,000 per week wages – Paris Saint-Germain, Manchester United, Manchester City and Chelsea.
PSG have the best attacking trio in Europe at the moment in Neymar, Kylian Mbappe and Edinson Cavani. It is difficult to see why they would add Ronaldo to that mix, especially after shattering the world record to buy Neymar in the summer.
Manchester United are about to sign Alexis Sanchez to go with Anthony Martial, Romelu Lukaku and Marcus Rashford. While United might still need a creative No.10, an aging striker is not something they desperately need.
Over at Manchester City, it is difficult to see how Ronaldo could fit into a high press Pep Guardiola side.
That would leave Ronaldo with one option and that is Chelsea and Roman Abramovich. Abramovich has always craved a marquee signing like Ronaldo, and probably would be willing to invest the money needed to sign CR7. London is always an attractive destination for players, but after professing his love for Manchester United, would Ronaldo be willing to sign for a rival?
As Ronaldo and his agent Jorge Mendes play out this PR game, they might learn that the only good option they have is to stay in Spain and take a small contract extension from Real Madrid.
