Cristiano Ronaldo’s stance remains unchanged. As per 90MIN, the Portugal international is seeking an exit from Old Trafford this summer in the hopes of joining a club participating in the 2022/23 UEFA Champions League group stage.
Despite the 37-year-old’s 24 goals across all competitions last season, the Red Devils failed to secure a top-four finish and ended the season without any domestic or continental silverware, relinquishing the chance to play in Europe’s premier competition.
Ronaldo returned to United’s Carrington Training Complex earlier this week for face-to-face talks with the club hierarchy. Joining him was his agent Jorge Mendes and his former mentor and manager, Sir Alex Ferguson.
However, according to reports, those present were unable to change the superstar’s mind. He remains insistent on leaving the club as soon as possible, having already missed out on their entire pre-season tour of Asia and Australia.
Chelsea, Napoli, Bayern Munich, and Atletico Madrid are the clubs linked heavily with Ronaldo as it stands. However, with each passing week, the avenues for the five-time Ballon d’Or winner seem to be closing. Chelsea ruled themselves out of the race much earlier, and, lately, Bayern and Atletico, too, have confirmed their intentions to stay away from the transfer at present.
Bayern CEO Oliver Kahn claimed that despite being one of the world’s best footballers, Ronaldo does not fit the club’s ideology, thus ruling out a transfer this summer.
“Personally, I think Cristiano Ronaldo is one of the greatest-ever footballers. But we came to the conclusion that, despite the esteem that we hold him in, he wouldn’t have fitted our philosophy at the moment,”
he told BILD.
Kahn’s words were echoed by Atletico president Enrique Cerezo, who called a move for the Portugal international “practically impossible”.
The proposed Ronaldo transfer was also vehemently opposed by the Los Rojiblancos fans, who released a statement asking for the club to stay away from the former Real Madrid star.
