Manchester United forward Cristiano Ronaldo has been linked with a return to Sporting Lisbon in order to escape his Old Trafford nightmare.
According to Foot Mercato journalist Santi Aouna, the Portuguese club recognizes that the deal will be “complex” to complete. However, sporting director Hugo Viana is extremely active behind the scenes in order to bring Ronaldo back to his first club.
The 37-year-old began his career at Sporting Lisbon before moving to Manchester United in 2003. The five-time Ballon d’Or winner is reportedly desperate to leave Old Trafford this summer in search of Champions League football.
While Sporting are unlikely to win Europe’s most coveted club prize this season, they will be competing in the tournament after finishing second in the previous season.
Ronaldo still has a year left on his current deal at Manchester United, with the club currently sitting at the bottom of the Premier League table.
The Portugal captain played 45 minutes in the opening-day home defeat to Brighton & Hove Albion. He did, though, play the full 90 minutes of United’s humiliating 4-0 defeat at Brentford on Saturday evening (13 August).
The legendary attacker has been linked with several of Europe’s biggest clubs this summer, but has yet to find a move away.
Pundit believes Manchester United have ‘big’ decision to make over Cristiano Ronaldo
Following his return to Old Trafford last summer, Ronaldo scored 24 times in 38 appearances for the club in the most recent campaign.
However, with Ten Hag’s insistence that his attackers press with high intensity, there are doubts whether or not the veteran attacker can cope in the Dutchman’s system.
Former Leeds and Sheffield United goalkeeper Paddy Kenny believes the 20-time English champions have a huge decision ahead, as he told Football Insider:
“He hasn’t had a full pre-season. His future is up in the air, I saw he has been leaving games early, it’s not looking good. It’s a difficult one for Ten Hag. He won’t want to play Ronaldo because of his behaviour this summer but you have to play him because of how bad they have been.”
He continued:
“We don’t know what is going on with his future, do clubs even want to sign him? It’s not like they are queueing up, is it? The club needs changes, we know this. Would it be better for Ronaldo to leave? It’s a hard one. He guarantees you goals.”
He added:
“But he is also a negative influence. Someone at the club needs to make a big decision here and they need to do it ASAP, before the window closes.”