When Manchester United announced the return of their Golden son, club legend and superstar, Cristiano Ronaldo on August 27th, 2021 the footballing world hailed the move as the final piece in the club’s puzzle as it sought to return to prominence.
A signing like that happens only once in a lifetime and for every united fan, it was a beautiful sight to see the man who arguably made the number seven jersey famous all over the world donning the red shirt of the club and of course having his name carry the jersey number he had built a global brand around.
Despite the Portuguese superstar Ronaldo bagging goals and personal awards to his credit, he was truly disappointed with how far the standards in the club had dropped.
What was supposed to be a fairytale story and should have a happily ever after ending didn’t turn out to be so as United slumped to their lowest point accumulation in a season, finished outside the champions league places and only managed to qualify for the Europa League after losing to Crystal palace on the final day of the season?
READ MORE
Ronaldo seeks an escape
Following his appointment as the new manager of the club, former Ajax coach Erik Ten Hag made it perfectly clear that he is very open to working with the club’s legend but after he said that, Cristiano Ronaldo demanded a move away from the club.
Since then, what has followed has been his absence from the preseason training and matches played due to family reasons with the permission of the club but while his absence hasn’t been noticed on the pitch, it is off the pitch that he is making the headlines.
From Europe’s finest to Europe’s unwanted
Having submitted his transfer request to the club, he has ordered his agent Jorge Mendes to find him a new club and for a five-time champions league winner, getting a new club has proven to be a difficult task for all involved in the process.
At first, He was offered to German giants, Bayern Munich as a replacement to Polish goal machine, Robert Lewandowski who himself had to force a move to Barcelona but was rejected on the claims that he wouldn’t fit into the club’s ideology.
After that, His agent according to multiple reports had a meeting with the new Chelsea owner, Todd Boehely to offer him the chance to sign his client but while the offer sounded good to the owner, the manager turned it down citing the difficulty of fitting into his style of play.
The latest rejection comes from Athletico Madrid, cross-town rivals to the club where he won four champions league titles and four Balloons D’or, Real Madrid.
In a friendly match played against Numancia de Soria which they won by four goals, various sections of the Athletic fans were seen holding up banners suggesting He was not wanted at the club by its fans.
What’s The Next Step?
Cristiano Ronaldo has received some criticism from a section of United fans for seeking a move but it remains to be seen what the club decides after he returned to the club on Tuesday for some crunch talks with the club’s executives and coach alongside his agent, Jorge Mendes.
The Ronaldo story is one that keeps unravelling and we can’t wait to see how it all ends.
Leave a Reply