Former Liverpool player Danny Murphy says Cristiano Ronaldo will not be a Manchester United at the end of the January transfer window.
Speaking to Fair Betting Sites, Murphy believes that Ronaldo will once again force a departure from Old Trafford, having failed to work in Erik ten Hag’s first team this season.
“I think in January he will look to find a solution to his lack of playing time. “I would be surprised to see him at Manchester United in February.” he said.
Murphy went on to state that he feels keeping Ronaldo against his will would end up causing Ten Hag more problems than solutions.
“You don’t want a player like that to question you, to be agitated on the training pitch, to be a problem on the spot. And actually, that’s not Ronaldo’s thing. That is any high-level player who feels bad, he is going to provoke him.” he said.
The former Liverpool midfielder concluded by saying that he feels Ronaldo has earned the right to end his career playing first-team football and says he feels sympathy for the situation the Portuguese star is currently in.
“I feel a little bit sorry for him because you want to play every game and he’s earned the right to play,” Murphy said. “He has earned the right to end his career in someone’s starting eleven.
Since trying to find a move away from Old Trafford in the summer, Ronaldo has had to settle for a predominantly bench role at United so far this season.
Despite this, Ronaldo scored his 700th career goal for the club last weekend and is expected to start for United in their Europa League match against Omonia Nicosia tonight.
With Anthony Martial injured and Marcus Rashford still looking more suited to the left side, it may now be that Ronaldo gets a string of games in Ten Hag’s side, as the tight pre-World Cup schedule ramps up.
United have a number of games on the horizon, with the rotation of squads key to successfully navigating through the fixture list.
If Ronaldo really wants to leave Old Trafford in January, he will face the same problem he faced in the summer: finding a suitor. Astronomical salaries and a desire to play in the Champions League left Ronaldo short of offers in his attempts to leave in the summer and the same is expected again.
If he stays, the Portuguese superstar has the potential to further cement his legendary status at the club by leading the team to Europa League glory and in doing so adding a missing trophy to his glittering trophy list, either who wants to be. in it or not.
