After Cristiano Ronaldo reportedly asked to leave Manchester United this summer, the club is figuring out which steps to take. Some reports suggest that coach Erik ten Hag has already thought of a possible substitute, but according to The Telegraph the club is not ready to let Ronaldo go so easily.
While Ronaldo signed a two-year contract with United, some reports state that the underwhelming performance of the club last season, which resulted in a no-qualification to the Champions League, as well as the lack of interesting signings for next season are the cause of the player’s intention to leave.
It’s unclear which teams could be interested in the Portuguese star, who reportedly earned a £480,000-a-week last season. Either way, United won’t give in during this first attempt, especially as they are preparing to do their Asian tour for the summer, which would also require the presence of Ronaldo, as reported by The Daily Mail.
Manchester United and Ronaldo will have a meeting on Monday
According to Ian Whittle of The Telegraph, Ronaldo is set to return to Manchester this Monday and he will meet with the club's authorities. The intention of the meeting is to know how “vehement” is Ronaldo’s wish to leave and “what the next steps might be, for both parties, if he remains insistent on moving on.”
However, the club has insisted that Erik ten Hag counts on Ronaldo for next season, and they fully expect that the Portuguese will complete the second year of his contract. Especially, as the club says, according to the same source, that they don’t have any offers for the player.
Meanwhile, other reports say that his agent Jorge Mendes has been talking with Chelsea, Bayern Munich and Napoli. Ronaldo, 37, is scheduled to come to training in Manchester, where his non-international team-mates have started to work with Ten Hag last week.
United’s targets on the market
While United haven't confirmed any signings so far, the club is clearly working on it and they want to have something to convince Ronaldo over. The club is still in talks with Barcelona for Frenkie De Jong, despite Laporta’s words saying he would try not to sell the midfielder.
On the other hand, it is expected that the club will confirm the arrival of Dutch left-back Tyrell Malacia, for £13 million. Their other target is Argentinian Lisandro Martinez, who is also pretended by Arsenal. They are bidding at €40 million (£34.5m) for the defender.
