Two days before the end of the summer transfer market, Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag went to the press room and made a sort of revelation of the most anticipated series with the guarantee that Cristiano Ronaldo was even going to stay at Old Trafford. For those who were still waiting for one last surprise, the idea fell apart. However, that same announcement still had a nuance between the lines: the substitute status would not change because of it. And the following weeks confirmed this scenario.
The summer of Mexican soap operas in which nothing has changed, from Ronaldo to Mbappé with Ricardo Horta as the protagonist
The striker started as a used substitute with Brighton (37′), started in the tough away defeat against Brentford (90′), was on the bench again in the following four Premier League wins against Liverpool (4 ′), Southampton (22′), Leicester (22′) and Arsenal (32′) and returned to the starting eleven in the debut of the Red Devils and himself in the Europa League, in the defeat at home against Real Sociedad (90′). In total, he played 297 minutes in seven games, He still has no goals or assists this season.
A debut to forget Ronaldo on the day he will never forget (Manchester United-Real Sociedad chronicle)
With just over two months to go before the start of the World Cup, the last of his career, the Portuguese is truly facing a situation the likes of which he hasn’t had in two decades. Gone are the days when it was contested by Manchester rivals to take a place in the center of the attack (summer 2021). More recently, gone are the days when he was associated with more than ten clubs from six different European leagues without his status changing after two months of trying.
The third consecutive win came on the first day of the rest of Manchester United’s life under Ronaldo.
Last week, Alessandro Alciato, an Italian journalist from Amazon PrimeVideo, advanced that there were conversations between Ronaldo and Luciano Spalletti in the last days of the market revealing their content. “You really want to train me. You fancy? Are you ready?”, The captain of the national team would have written to the transalpine coach via Whatsapp. “Of course he would, willingly,” Spalletti replied. “If Ronaldo could be our player? Director Giuntoli spoke about it and said that there were no serious negotiations. I dreamed a bit. Why not see him together with Osimhen? It would have been wonderful. At least I didn’t like being deprived of Osimhen, ”he later commented at a press conference.
???? Ronaldo’s supposed WhatsApp to Spalletti: “Do you really want to train me?” https://t.co/3CoNuwx48a
— BRAND (@brand) September 8, 2022
Now, the newspaper Marca advances with another offer to Ronaldo that could break records but was rejected earlier this week by the player: Al-Hilal, a Saudi Arabian club that has players signed in Europe such as Vietto, Moussa Marega, Matheus Pereira , André Carrillo or Ighalo, put it in the hands of the striker a two-year contract proposal worth €121 million per season (ie a total of 242 million). The sports part ended up prevailing, with number 7 as the main focus of the World Cup in Qatar before the reopening of the transfer window, on January 1. And there, it is likely that the exit rumors can return with force.
Source: Observadora
