There’s a strong likelihood wantaway striker Cristiano Ronaldo will not part with Man United in the winter transfer window after the alleged latest moves of the Old Trafford team.
Ronaldo had been eager to leave Manchester United in the summer market to be able to play in the Champions League but was unsuccessful. Left with no choice but to stay and remain under Ten Hag, the Portuguese superstar subsequently experienced the worst start to a new season in his career when he only scored 3 goals and contributed 2 assists after 15 appearances for the Red Devils.
Faced compromisingly with the above situation, numerous reports have since emerged that Ronaldo will leave Man United in the winter transfer window to alleviate the embarrassment for both sides. However, Man Utd’s latest moves now seem to have rҽvҽalҽd a different future for the 37-year-old striker.
Interestingly, Ronaldo has been prominently featured in the latest humongous poster of Man United placed outside Old Trafford, alongside other legends of the team such as David Beckham, Eric Cantona and Ella Toone. Obviously, it can only be inferred that having the latest image of CR7 brandished so prominently at the “Theater of Dreams” at this crucial point in time shows that the Red Devils would not be selling their striker anytime soon.
Ronaldo recently made a comeback to the starting lineup of Man Utd after quite a long period on the bench. The 5-time winner of the prestigious Ballon d’Or was also involved in some unnecessary scandals, such as blatantly refusing to come on as a substitute and heading straight into the tunnel instead for a hasty exit in anger even before the match against Tottenham was over.
The Portuguese has since tendered his apology for his unwarranted actions, which has not changed Ten Hag’s view of retaining the former Real Madrid and Juventus star. The Dutch coach reportedly still believes in him and wants Ronaldo to continue to contribute to the team. Allegedly.
Incidentally the 37-year-old star came up empty-handed in his goal-scoring efforts against Aston Villa at the weekend despite wearing the Captain’s armband – a story all too familiar for the experienced striker, who has noticeably struggled to add to his goal haul this season.
In fact, the Portugal dynamo has only scored three measly goals in 16 games in all competitions so far, including a single goal in the Premier League and two in the Europa League.
It has been a start better forgotten for Portugal’s all-time top goalscorer ahead of this winter’s World Cup. And a special stat that is sure to make his fans nervous. In fact, on the contrary, the remarkable stat that stands out is the star having fouled a total of seven times in the Premier League this season – a statistic rapidly compared to his six shots on target with only one of those shots being successful – the equalizer at Everton’s Goodison Park last month.
Ronaldo has only started four of Man United’s 13 matches since the beginning of the season. In the 1-3 loss to Aston Villa last weekend, he was shown a yellow card after wrestling with midfielder Tyrone Mings in the 61st minute.
It was the perfect summation for CR7’s lackluster performance on the day he took the captain’s armband for the first time under manager Erik ten Hag.