Cristiano Ronaldo is one of the best ever to play the game, but at 37 years old, the Man United star is stuck in a tough situation. While he contributed plenty of goals since returning to Old Trafford last summer — notching 24 times in 38 appearances across all competitions — his presence and his style of play just don’t fit what new manager Erik ten Hag is trying to do with this squad.
– Deadline Day preview: Will Ronaldo be on the move?
– Ogden: Ronaldo has left Man United with one choice over his future
– O’Hanlon: What is the Ronaldo endgame? (E+)
After endless rumours about him trying to find a new club this summer, the transfer window closes on Thursday, so it’s really now or never. Could the all-world 37-year-old end up being an “impact sub” at Man United ahead of this winter’s World Cup? Will he end up as a free agent who can then find his next club beyond the transfer window? Or will he find a club willing to deal with Man United and take the Portugal forward for the season?
ESPN writers Gab Marcotti, Mark Ogden, Julien Laurens, Rob Dawson and James Olley offer their thoughts as to how this saga will ultimately play out.
So, what will happen with Ronaldo this week: He stays at United, his contract gets cancelled or he gets a transfer?
Gab Marcotti: My guess is he’ll be elsewhere other than Man United, and it’s highly unlikely given his wages that anybody would pay a transfer fee. The Venn diagram of clubs that can afford his wages, would want to have him on board and are playing in the Champions League this season is tiny enough. To then expect a transfer fee on top of that seems fanciful, unless it’s part of some accounting-driven swap deal.
So, I think if he leaves, it will be as a free agent, with United and Cristiano terminating the contract by mutual consent — and, perhaps, him getting some sort of severance, a bit like Luis Suarez did when he left Barcelona. Getting some sort of payoff would also widen the pool of clubs that could make it work financially.
Ultimately, I suspect he’ll have to take a pay cut as well. I doubt that part would be a problem for him — he has enough money — and whatever blow he suffers to his ego will be more than compensated for by the opportunity to prove his critics wrong by scoring goals domestically and in the Champions League.
Frankly, given that it’s a World Cup year as well, moving to a lesser-profile, lower-pressure club might even suit him … as long as he gets to play in the Champions League.
Mark Ogden: Ever since it became clear in July that Ronaldo wanted to leave United, I’ve believed he would eventually get his move, and I still hold to that. It makes no football sense, and little financial sense, for him to stay at Old Trafford.
Of course, he’d need to accept he might not start every game, but at the Bernabeu, he could live with that. The problem is Real appear to have ruled this out … though minds can always change, right?
I can’t see other top clubs getting involved, partly because they are already covered in his position, partly because most have “system managers” and, rightly or wrongly, they don’t view Ronaldo at this stage of his career as a guy who fits a system. Beyond that, Sporting Club would have been an emotional homecoming, but Ruben Amorim appears to have ruled that out, going so far as to threaten to resign. Napoli makes little sense on the pitch, which may explain why the conditions reportedly being defined — sending Victor Osimhen to Man United for €130m, being responsible for 15% of his current wages, etc. — seem overly stacked in their favor.
Ogden: The big complication here is that Ronaldo wants to play in the Champions League this season, and there are only 32 clubs that have earned that privilege. Most of them won’t be able to afford him while the top clubs won’t need him, so his options are limited. Napoli, Atletico Madrid, AC Milan, Sporting, Borussia Dortmund and Chelsea are the clubs that have had some interest in Ronaldo this summer, but all have different challenges to overcome in terms of getting a deal done.
Napoli, Milan and Sporting are the most likely options. Napoli have the finances and desire to sign him, but playing alongside Zlatan Ibrahimovic at Milan would be an interesting clash of egos. Sporting would offer Ronaldo a fairytale return to his first club and the chance to end his career in Portugal, but coach Amorim has expressed his opposition to signing him.
From a football perspective, and for personal reasons, a return to Lisbon with Sporting would suit Ronaldo best. But United and Ronaldo would need to work together to enable Sporting to afford such a move.
Laurens: The perfect club for Ronaldo to go to would have been Sporting. What a story to finish his career where it all began more than 20 years ago, and playing in the Champions League as part of a good team, for the love of the game and with the pride of wearing his boyhood club’s shirt for one or two last seasons. It would make so much sense and would be so beautiful.
Ronaldo could still go to MLS after a couple of years in Portugal, but Sporting’s manager Amorim is dogmatic, and the 37-year-old just doesn’t fit that philosophy. Apart from Sporting, I don’t think Ronaldo fits in another club. On the pitch, he is not really a fit anymore for anyone. Wherever he plays, he will, of course, always score goals because he is the best finisher the game has ever seen, but it is complicated to incorporate him into a system.
Dawson: Part of the reason Ronaldo is still at Man United with just a couple of days to go before the close of the transfer window is that there aren’t moves that make sense — at least for the clubs. Jorge Mendes has spent the summer trying to whip up interest from anywhere and everywhere, and despite links with Chelsea, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Atletico Madrid, Napoli and Borussia Dortmund, United are yet to receive an offer.
Chelsea could afford Ronaldo and they need a striker, but he doesn’t fit into the way Thomas Tuchel wants to play. Diego Simeone isn’t against signing ageing forwards, but there has been opposition from fans at Atletico Madrid, while Bayern Munich have ruled out a move multiple times. Dortmund and Napoli can offer Ronaldo Champions League football, but it’s unlikely they could afford his wages without United picking up much of the bill.
