SOCCER | MANCHESTER UNITED
Cristiano Ronaldo: PSG, Man City or Sporting Libson next for Manchester United star?
Manchester United star Cristiano Ronaldo is reportedly already considering his options with PSG, Inter Miami, Sporting Lisbon or Real Madrid in the frame.
Manchester United’s Sporting crisis has led to suggestions that Cristiano Ronaldo could be looking for a way out of Old Trafford just a few months after rejoining the Premier League side from Juventus. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side have been beaten 2-0 by Manchester City and 5-0 by Liverpool in successive home games and have won only one of their last six league fixtures, slipping into sixth in the table and outside of the European places. According to reports, Ronaldo is none too keen to strut his stuff in the Europa League next year and presumably won’t be any happier not to be playing continental football at all and, if either of those scenarios comes to pass, will ask to leave the club despite signing a two-year deal in the summer.
Speculation in the UK media has linked Ronaldo with several possible destinations, among them Real Madrid, where he won four Champions League titles, but AS sources have confirmed that this is not an option the Bernabéu board are considering at the moment. Manchester City were heavily linked with a move for Ronaldo last summer but were pipped when United expressed their interest, a phone call from Sir Alex Ferguson apparently going some way to persuading the Portuguese to return to his former club. A move across town would not be unprecedented but it seems unlikely Ronaldo would risk his legacy at Old Trafford by pulling on the City blue at this stage of his career.
PSG's Messi, Ronaldo, Neymar dream
PSG will of course be in the running if Ronaldo decides to seek a new challenge. The Ligue 1 giants’ owners have long dreamed of a front three of Leo Messi, Neymar and Ronaldo and now have two-thirds of that triumvirate after the Argentina captain left Barcelona last summer to move to Paris. Should Kylian Mbappé leave next summer, Ronaldo would present a cut-price replacement and a guarantee of Ligue 1 goals and his considerable Champions League experience would also be a bonus for a club obsessed with being crowned European champions.
Two other alternatives – and perhaps given Ronaldo will be 37 by next summer - are a long-touted return to his boyhood club Sporting Lisbon, or a move to MLS to link up with David Beckham at Inter Miami.