Manchester United’s wantaway superstar Cristiano Ronaldo could now be looking into the possibility – not by choice but due to his options being drastically reduced to the point of him looking almost ridiculously marginalised – of forcing through an Old Trafford exit halfway through the season at the turn of the calendar year with Saudi Arabia being the only realistic option available.
Ronaldo’s time at Old Trafford look like it could be nearing its end as the 37-year-old is now said to be exploring the interest from Saudi Arabian clubs as a serious option. The five-time Ballon d’Or winner had made his desire to leave the club clear in the summer, probably in anticipation of being inundated with offers from Champions League clubs but that hardly turned out to be the case as no offers were forthcoming, save for unsubstantiated rumors linking him to some of the leading European powerhouse, all of which quickly denied showing any serious interest in acquiring his services.
Chelsea, Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid and even his old club Sporting Lisbon all rejected the chance to sign Ronaldo over the course of the most recent window. In his desperation to play Champions League football allegedly to protect his legacy as the tournament’s top goalscorer against his arch rival Lionel Messi, Ronaldo unhesitatingly snubbed an offer from an unnamed Saudi club that would have seen him pocket £211m per year.
And now, the way things have turned out, United’s gaffer Erik Ten Hag has judiciously addressed the club’s conundrum of a succession of its earlier managers having all this while place the cart before the horse, with the Dutchman favoring the idea of Marcus Rashford playing through the middle. This is resulting in Ronaldo’s increasing unwillingness to stick around until the end of the season as he certainly does not relish warming the bench as a substitute.
Hence, the former Real Madrid powerhouse is said to be coming to terms with the idea that his love affair with European club football’s most prestigious competition is perhaps truly drawing to an end, prematurely or otherwise.
To remind that United aren’t a Champions League club at this juncture could be misconstrued as adding insult to injury for the once-austere club, who also happened to lose the first game of their Europa League group stage campaign 1-0 to Real Sociedad at Old Trafford last week. Add to that the inglorious the fact that Ronaldo still couldn’t make it into that team and it becomes clear why his patience is wearing thin.
This of course could also be the explanation why the Saudi option is realistically beginning to look more attractive to the ageing forward. Since the chances of him ever playing in the Champions League again are remote, albeit not impossible, his camp are starting to feel that it would be beeter off for him to go make hay while the sun shone and earn those aforementioned eye-watering wages.
Yasser Al-Misehal, president of the Saudi Arabian Football Federation, spoke with The Athletic over the idea of a player of Ronaldo’s caliber plying his trade in the country, hence suggesting the offer still stands despite Ronaldo snubbing it in the summer.
“I think, ‘Why not?’, I’m sure it would be a very expensive deal, of course, but we can see our clubs getting higher revenues in the past couple of years. We have already seen some big players who used to play in the Premier League come to the Saudi league.
“I like Cristiano Ronaldo as a player and I would like to see him play in Saudi Arabia.”
Al-Misehal went on to concede he couldn’t possibly speculate on which Saudi club could be the one to pry the icon away from Old Trafford.
It is highly unlikely for Ronaldo to have backtracked on his stance that he wants out and Ten Hag’s reluctance to actually play him means there’s a strong chance United can’t stand in his way this time when the January window opens.