New Chelsea owner Todd Boehly reportedly floated the idea of signing Cristiano Ronaldo in a personal meeting with his agent, Jorge Mendes.
Ronaldo has expressed his keenness to work with new manager Erik ten Hag but rumours have swirled in recent weeks that the 37-year-old is unhappy with the club's lack of business in the summer transfer window. That's despite Ten Hag being adamant that he is planning for 2022-23 with Ronaldo in United's ranks.
He told reporters after his final game in charge of Ajax: "From tomorrow (Monday), my focus will be on United, and I will of course get deep into things there. What I have to say about it is, the detailed analysis still has to begin, I still have to work with the team, but let me be clear that at United there are a lot of good players around. We have to make them function as a team but definitely Ronaldo, he is a giant."
In a separate interview with De Telegraaf, Ten Hag added: "Ronaldo is a giant, because of what he’s already shown and I think he's still very ambitious. Of course I would like to keep him. He's been very important to Manchester United this year and can produce great statistics."
But Mirror Football understands Chelsea are keen to make at least one marquee signing at Stamford Bridge this summer after buying the club from Roman Abramovich.
The Blues chief met with the agent in Portugal last week, according to the Athletic, who note that it is currently unknown whether Chelsea will pursue a transfer for the Manchester United superstar, who has one more remaining on his contract at Old Trafford but been linked with a shock move to Bayern Munich.
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Ronaldo has already dished out plenty of praise for his 52-year-old new boss too, notably telling manutd.com : "What I know about him is he did a fantastic job for Ajax, that he's an experienced coach. But we need to give him time. Things need to change the way he wants.
"I hope we have success, of course, because, if you have success, all of Manchester is going to have success as well. I wish him the best. We are happy and excited, not only as players, but the supporters as well. I wish him the best and let's believe that, next year, we are going to win trophies."
The ex- Real Madrid talisman added: "I know he did a fantastic job for Ajax and that he's an experienced coach but we need to give him time. Things need to change the way he wants. I hope we have success, of course. Because if you have success all of Manchester is going to have success as well so I wish him the best."
