Ronaldo to Atletico Madrid: Spanish giants keen on Cristiano’s signature, ready to offload Antoine Griezmann

Atletico Madrid have put forward Antoine Griezmann up for sale in their bid to sign Manchester United ace Cristiano Ronaldo. The Spanish side has offered Griezmann to many clubs including Paris Saint-Germain, as it would free up their wage bill to fund the Ronaldo deal, according to The Times. Griezmann is reportedly on a £300k-a-week salary, while Ronaldo fetches a staggering £360k-a-week at Old Trafford. He is said to take a 30 per cent pay cut, with ambitions to play Champions League football next season.

At present, Ronaldo faces an uncertain future as he is not on the must-have list of top clubs such as Chelsea, Bayern Munich, Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain. The 37-year-old forward had shocked United with an exit request after the club failed to qualify for the Champions League.

Robert Lewandowski’s move to Barcelona could have led to Ronaldo’s arrival at Bayern, but German champions’ CEO Oliver Kahn said the transfer wouldn’t be a fit for their “philosophy”.

“I love Cristiano Ronaldo and everyone knows how fantastic he is. But every club has a certain philosophy and I’m not sure if it would be the right thing for Bayern and the Bundesliga if we signed him now,” he said.

Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel said that the club focussed on signing “top target” Raheem Sterling in the transfer window. “We focused on our top target Raheem Sterling who we signed and everything else stays behind closed doors,” he said when asked about Ronaldo.

But Ronaldo, who finished as United’s top scorer last season, is “not for sale” as confirmed by manager Erik ten Hag, who has assured fans of the star footballer’s association with the club. United finished sixth last season, 35 points behind first-place City.

“He’s not with us and it’s due to personal issues,” Ten Hag said at a press conference. “We are planning with Cristiano Ronaldo for this season so that’s it. I’m looking forward to working with him.”

“He hasn’t told me this. I have read but what I say is Cristiano is not for sale. Cristiano is in our plans and we want to (have) success together,” he added.

“I don’t know what Cristiano said to the club and to the manager,” said United midfielder Bruno Fernandes, who also plays alongside Ronaldo for Portugal. “I don’t know what’s going on in his head, if he wants to leave. I didn’t ask them that.

“From everything we know,” Fernandes added, “he had some family problems so we have to respect his space, give him some space and that’s it. The only thing I asked Cristiano when he didn’t turn up was if everything was OK with the family. He told me what was going on, that’s it and nothing more.”