Chadwick surprised Cristiano Ronaldo wants to quit Manchester United

Luke Chadwick was as shocked as anyone when the news broke that Cristiano Ronaldo wishes to leave Manchester United for a second time.

Although some out there will argue they knew he didn’t want to play in the Europa League next season, the club would argue that he has left it late to make his intentions known. They didn’t see this happening in May before Jorge Mendes began meeting with clubs behind the club’s back, in attempt to sound out offers from teams in the Champions League.

I found it hard to watch our team last season – full of players who didn’t want to be there. While I don’t include Ronaldo in that, I certainly will next season, so I don’t want him sticking around unless his heart is in the right place.

Plus, you can’t tell me his heart is in the right place when he’s desperate enough to take a pay cut to leave United before his contract expires.

“I was surprised, to be honest,” Chadwick told CaughtOffside. “He had a good season last season in a poorly-performing team. I sort of imagined, at his age, that he’d be looking to finish his career at United. So when the news broke it surprised me, and it’s obviously not come at a great time. There’s a bit more positivity around the club with pre-season starting under the new manager, the new signing Tyrell Malacia coming in, and now this has sort of put a cloud over it all.

“It’s disappointing, but I can understand he’ll want to play in the Champions League. Maybe it’s come at the right time. Ten Hag will want to put his own stamp on the team and maybe this is a chance to do that. Obviously Ronaldo is an icon of the game, but it could be the right time for him to go and to allow Ten Hag to put his own philosophy in place.”

Chadwick believes Ronaldo would make sense for a club like Chelsea, but notes how much he will disappoint United fans if he joins a rival club.

“The Chelsea links are strange. It’s hard to imagine him in a blue shirt, and at one of United’s rivals,” Chadwick added.

“Obviously he’d add to their squad, and they’re looking for a goal-scorer now that Romelu Lukaku has gone. A short-term deal for Ronaldo could make sense for them.

“For United fans it would be very disappointing to see him playing in the Premier League for another club. It would sour things a little – to go to another Premier League team would be hard to swallow.

“You’d rather see him go somewhere like Bayern Munich, and I’d imagine that would be more to his liking anyway. He’s won the Premier League, La Liga, Serie A, so to add the Bundesliga to that would be another way to add to his legacy in European football.”

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