Manchester United might want to start planning for next season without Cristiano Ronaldo, who has reportedly told the club he wants out this summer, as it’s probably not the news Erik ten Hag wanted before his first campaign in charge.
According to The Mirror, the new manager will urge his employers to replace the unhappy 37-year-old striker with Ajax’s young Brazilian winger Antony.
Simon Mullock wrote: “United’s owners realise that the departure of Ronaldo would be greeted with fury by the fans. Ten Hag is aware of the moves that Ronaldo’s camp have been making in recent weeks. And his solution would be to sign Antony, the Sao Paulo-born livewire who will be part of Brazil’s World Cup squad this winter.”
United have already been heavily linked with a move for Antony, even when it looked like Ronaldo would be staying, and he is not a player I can see replacing the Portuguese veteran as a centre-forward.
On top of that, Ten Hag doesn’t have many options in the squad to replace Ronaldo after Edinson Cavani left the club. Can he rely on Marcus Rashford who is going through a difficult patch in his career or is it time to call on either Amad Diallo or Facundo Pellistri?
United reiterated the stance they took last week when it emerged that Ronaldo’s agent Jorge Mendes had a meeting with new Chelsea owner Todd Boehly about a potential move by saying he’s not for sale.
But there is no point keeping a player if he wants to leave.
Let us know in the comments section how you would feel about Ronaldo leaving a year into his contract?