Cristiano Ronaldo is remaining at Manchester United beyond the summer transfer window despite his agent Jorge Mendes' attempts to facilitate an exit.
The Portuguese superstar remains determined to depart the Red Devils after just one season back at Old Trafford following his high-profile return from Juventus last year after 12 years away – but despite him declaring the intention of leaving at the end of June, he has not been able to secure an exit.
The 37-year-old has been excluded from three successive Premier League starting line-ups – initially benched for United’s spirited defeat of Liverpool before also missing out on the starting XI for the following clashes against Southampton and Leicester. Anthony Martial and Marcus Rashford have been preferred to Ronaldo by new boss Erik ten Hag.
Ronaldo was left "upset" at seeing his pay slashed at United after each member of the squad was hit with a 25 per cent cut to their weekly wage – with the 37-year-old, who is the club’s highest earner, seeing the greatest impact to his pay packet. That was due to the club’s failure to qualify for the Champions League, which Ronaldo is desperate to continue participating in.
The Portuguese forward has now missed out on his desired United exit and will already be weighing up his options going forwards. One short-term option is joining Turkish giants Fenerbahce , with a sensational report outlined by Turkish outlet Ajansspor – as cited by Sport Witness – who claim that a remarkable move could still be concluded by the Istanbul club, with their transfer window remaining open until September 8.
Should that move not prove to be feasible, a switch to Chelsea appears to have broken down with the Blues signing of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang from Barcelona. However, the West London club may look to reinforce their attack in January with their owner Todd Boehly – who has acted as sporting director this summer – known to be a big admirer of Ronaldo.
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Atletico Madrid are among the clubs who offer a potential escape route for the Portuguese star. That is despite the Portuguese superstar's links with Real Madrid – where he is the all-time record club goal scorer with a scarcely believable 450 goals in 438 appearances. He is open to joining their city rivals.
Atleti fans have protested against the possible signing but that is not detracting boss Diego Simeone, who would love for the club to land a player he has always greatly admired. Simeone believes that Ronaldo could have a similar impact to Luis Suarez – the Uruguayan joined from Barcelona in 2020 and subsequently fired them to the league title in his debut season.
Another option for Ronaldo is his former club, Sporting CP . Sport Witness recently cited a report from Portuguese outlet Correio da Manhã which claims that Sporting president Frederico Varandas is ‘not giving up’ on a remarkable deal to bring Ronaldo back to the club – if not in August, then soon after.
A year ago, Ronaldo’s mother Dolores Aveiro vowed to speak to her son over a potential move back to Sporting from Juventus prior to his eventual return to Old Trafford. Reports that Sporting had made initial contact over a sensational move for Ronaldo first began to circulate last month.
Sporting CP sporting director Hugo Viana has recently told Sky Sports of a possible return of Ronaldo: "I think not now - I don't think it is possible, but you never know. He can decide where he goes, but you never know the future. I don't want to talk about that, but he has another year on his contract so whatever he decides, let's see."
Of course, there are two other options on the table for Ronaldo – he can either continue his spell at United or agree to terminate his contract and become a free agent, should the club allow him to. Time will tell on the 37-year-old’s future.
