Former Aston Villa striker Gabby Agbonlahor believes Manchester United should sell Cristiano Ronaldo less than five months after bringing him back to the club.
His reason for this does not stem from having an inside source, telling him what is going on behind-the-scenes, but instead due to the friction Ronaldo is perceived to be causing within the squad.
Ever since his homecoming, critics have looked for ways to point out how Ronaldo is the problem. I find it hard to believe that because if it wasn’t for Ronaldo, United would be knocked out of the Champions League.
Moreover, the Portuguese superstar has scored 14 goals in 22 games for the club across all competitions and is our top scorer this season.
While the rest of the team continues to underperform, Ronaldo continues to score goals.
But that isn’t enough for Agbonlahor, who thinks Ronaldo is negatively affecting Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Mason Greenwood.
“Yes, Ronaldo has scored but he’s scored goals that Greenwood would have scored, Rashford would have scored in that position,” Agbonlahor told Football Insider.
“For me, I would let Ronaldo go in the summer. Let Greenwood, Sancho and Rashford play together.”
Even though the captain’s armband doesn’t hold the same significance nowadays, Agbonlahor also thinks giving the role to Ronaldo on Monday night could cause problems with compatriot Bruno Fernandes.
Agbonlahor added: “You’ve seen the difference in Fernandes since Ronaldo has come in. Before Ronaldo came in, Fernandes was the main man. Now Ronaldo’s the main man.
“Ronaldo was captain against Wolves. Before Ronaldo came it was Fernandes who was captain when Harry Maguire was out and now he’s on the bench.
“There’s going to be tension there. If you look at the whole situation, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will know he made a mistake by bringing Ronaldo in, simple as that.”
It sounds like Agbonlahor wants to blame Ronaldo for everything.