The speculations over Cristiano Ronaldo’s future have grown ever since it was reported last month that the Portuguese forward wants a move away from Manchester United. Ronaldo, who joined the club last season, reportedly wants to play in the highest tier of European competition – the Champions League – but United have failed to qualify for the tournament, finishing sixth in the league in 2021/22.
Ronaldo didn’t take part in United’s pre-season tour to Thailand and Australia, but reached Manchester earlier this week to begin talks with the club over his future. Throughout this time, various reports linked Ronaldo to multiple European giants including Bayern Munich and Real Madrid. Both clubs, however, ruled out the possibility to bring the Portuguese forward. Earlier this month, Ronaldo was surprisingly linked with a move to Atletico Madrid as well – Atletico are rivals to Real, where the 37-year-old attacker spent 8 glorious seasons.
Atletico’s president Enrique Cerezo, however, has denied any such move.
“I don’t know who invented the story of [ Ronaldo], but it’s practically impossible for him to come to Atlético de Madrid,” Cerezo said bluntly during an interaction with Spanish media outlet El Partidazo de COPE.
Incidentally, Premier League club Chelsea were also one of the clubs reported to be pursuing Ronaldo, but nothing concrete has come out of that as well.
There has been no update from United about Ronaldo’s current status at the club following his arrival with his agent, Jorge Mendes, at the Carrington training base.
Sir Alex Ferguson, the former United manager who signed Ronaldo for the player’s first spell at the club from 2003-09, arrived at Carrington earlier Tuesday. Ferguson played an influential role in persuading Ronaldo to return to United last year.
The new Premier League season begins in less than two weeks, with United opening against Brighton at home on August 7.
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