To control the fallout from the Portugal star’s power play, Erik ten Hag is scrambling after Cristiano Ronaldo’s shocking demand that he be allowed to quit Manchester United upsets his plans.
Ronaldo has already become so unhappy with United only one year after making a splashy return from Juventus that he is attempting to leave Old Trafford.
The 37-year-old is thought to have informed United that he wants to be sold, and Ronaldo’s agent Jorge Mendes is said to have spoken with Bayern Munich, Chelsea, and Napoli as he looks for a team to meet Ronaldo’s goals.
Ronaldo became more irritated as the season wore on, during which United had three different managers and an unimpressive sixth-place Premier League finish.
Ronaldo led United in scoring with 24 goals across all competitions, but his team finished the year without a title and missed out on the Champions League.
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A five-time Ballon d’Or winner who has won the Champions League trophy five times finds competing in the Europa League scarcely attractive.
Ronaldo has one year left on his contract, and United claims they won’t be selling the former Real Madrid attacker.
Although Ten Hag had been excited about working with Ronaldo, he may need to prepare for life without his most accomplished player.
When the rest of United’s international players arrived on Monday for the start of their preseason training program, Ten Hag won’t have been heartened if he had hoped to convince Ronaldo to withdraw his transfer desire.
On Friday, United is scheduled to take out for Thailand as part of their tour of Asia and Australia.
Ronaldo’s second stint at United may come to an abrupt end if he skips the trip, it would appear.
– Dreary presence
Todd Boehly, Chelsea’s new co-owner, is excited by the prospect of Ronaldo ushering in a new era at Stamford Bridge.
After Ronaldo’s turbulent first season back in Manchester, it is unclear if Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel would be as receptive to the switch.
Although Ronaldo’s finishing ability is still unsurpassed, he seldom indicates wanting to participate in the fast-paced pressing style that interim manager Ralf Rangnick intended to use.
Rangnick allegedly instructed United football director John Murtough to sell Ronaldo during the January transfer window due to the player’s poor mobility and questionable work ethic.
Ronaldo remained a melancholy presence at the club for the remainder of the season after his plea was denied.
After being replaced in a game against Brentford, he openly disagreed with Rangnick, and there have been rumors of tension between the star and United captain Harry Maguire.
Ten Hag is probably aware of how difficult it can be to live with Ronaldo, and he may even be considering if it would be better for him to be free of the star’s distractions.
United is now miles behind Manchester City and Liverpool. For Ten Hag to make them serious contenders for the first English championship since 2013, he must purge a team that became poisonous last season.
The polarizing departure of Paul Pogba was a positive development, and Ten Hag is eager to add many new players to the team in the following days.
Christian Eriksen of Denmark is said to have signed a three-year deal, while Feyenoord’s left-back Tyrell Malacia is also close to doing the same.
Frenkie De Jong of Barcelona and Lisandro Martinez of Ajax are two more players in which Ten Hag is interested.
Those transactions would be positive, but Ten Hag must also solve the Ronaldo problem to prevent a dangerous situation from getting out of hand.
