Cristiano Ronaldo is still in limbo over his future at Manchester United, as Marseille look set to become the latest team to snub a mega-money transfer move for the 37-year-old superstar.
The French giants have recently been tipped to rescue Ronaldo from his Old Trafford predicament, as he remains a Red Devil with just one week of the summer transfer window left.
Multiple ex-Marseille players have urged their old employers to pursue a deal, but their cries have been drowned out amid fears from inside the club that bringing Ronaldo to the Stade Velodrome would present a financial burden and derail new manager Igor Tudor's recruitment drive.
According to former Marseille midfielder Jean-Charles De Bono, via BILD, the Ligue 1 side have already carried out a study to investigate how signing the five-time Ballon d'Or winner would affect their finances. Ronaldo's obscene commercial value dwarfs any other footballer on planet Earth's, and Marseille were said to be interested in finding out how a transfer could lead to sponsors getting on board with the club.
The Portuguese icon and his trusted agent, Jorge Mendes, have failed to find a worthy suitor since informing United of his desire to leave ahead of the club's pre-season tour in early July. Desperate to play Champions League football and avoid losing his record as the competition's all-time top goalscorer to eternal rival Lionel Messi, no European clubs have been willing to take on his eye-watering wage demands.
While Marseille deliberate over a deal, though, it's already assured that Ronaldo would receive a warm welcome. Djibril Cisse, Mamadou Niang and Samir Nasri - who're all OM alumni - have each expressed a wish to see the ex- Real Madrid and Juventus talisman strut his stuff at their former club.
Fellow legend Eric Di Meco, who spent 14 years at Marseille before becoming a pundit, also claims that "it would be unforgivable" not to try and sign Ronaldo. "Just for the [love of it], to make fans and the city vibrate, you have to try it," Di Meco declared on the Super Moscato Show.
"These guys are self-financing. A guy like Ronaldo is not expensive, in the end. The main shareholder must ignite, find an economic solution to find him a business in the United States."
The one-time OM stalwart admits that the idea of Ronaldo joining his beloved side is "science fiction" and that there is "one chance in a thousand" for a deal to happen. Di Meco even reckons that the Portugal captain could cause friction behind the scenes, adding: "If he came by miracle, he would put the brothel in your locker room."
While it's clear to conclude that the notion of signing Ronaldo is exciting the Velodrome faithful, it's the current chiefs at Marseille who'll dictate whether or not they make an official transfer approach. Club president Pablo Longoria was probed on the topic of Ronaldo following Sunday's 2-1 victory over Nantes but poured cold water the speculation.
"Ronaldo? Going into these kinds of details doesn't bring anything. We must remain concrete in life," Longoria told Canal+, seemingly hinting that Marseille's financial study had concluded that he'd indeed be too expensive to sign. Coupled with the club's ambitions of acquiring young talents with the goal of challenging Paris Saint-Germain in the future, it's hard to imagine Marseille making a move.
While Ronaldo is still tethered to United, Red Devils boss Erik ten Hag publicly insists that he's still got a role to play this season. Having made the controversial decision to bench him for the pulsating win against old foes Liverpool on Monday, Ten Hag explained: "I think he can [adapt to my system].
"In his whole career and under several managers, he did. In several styles and systems, he always performed. Why can't he do this [again]? His age is not an issue. If you are young, you are good enough, and when you are old, you still deliver the performance, you are also good enough."
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But it's all up in the air behind the scenes, as debate rages over whether or not offloading Ronaldo would be a wise decision. With Ten Hag's new era focussing on long-term success, there's a strong case to be made that having to keep the veteran happy throughout the campaign would be a difficult task.
Co-owner Joel Glazer is keen to keep hold of Ronaldo given his commercial benefits, but even if the Old Trafford bigwigs eventually decide to say farewell to their No.7 before next Thursday, they'll need to find a buyer - and fast.
