Former Manchester United captain Gary Neville has warned that Cristiano Ronaldo must change his personal game or risk losing his status as a regular starter under the club's next manager.
The 37-year-old, who returned to Old Trafford from Juventus last August, provided proof that he is still capable of performing at the highest level after scoring a hat-trick in last Saturday's 3-2 win over Tottenham Hotspur. He was criticised for travelling abroad after being ruled out of the Manchester derby through injury, but hit back at his critics in the best possible manner.
Ronaldo's treble moved him onto 18 goals for the season in all competitions, as well as 12 in the Premier League, meaning only Liverpool duo Mohamed Salah and Diogo Jota have scored more in the league than him this season. However, he has been regularly criticised, with some pundits suggesting, bizarrely, that he has been the cause of the Reds' troubles this term.
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Out of contract in the summer of 2023, though the club hold an option of an additional year, Ronaldo's future has been a hot topic in recent weeks. However, if he does remain at Old Trafford this summer, Neville has suggested that the Portugal international will have to tweak his own game to remain a regular starter under United's new permanent manager.
"I'm unsure, it depends who the manager is and what the project is for the new manager," Neville, assessing Ronaldo's future, said, as quoted by the Mail. "Does he want to build a young squad that's athletic and progressive?
"Ronaldo can play in that – but if he wants to play every single week, which would seem to be the case, then it may be that the manager wants a fresh start. He might want young players that are basically pressing high from the front and can create high level of play in that way.
"If he wants to play in a different way and can accept that he will have a great goalscorer in the team who is basically someone who has basically been the greatest goalscorer of all time then yes there will be a position for him. But I think it would have to be a Ronaldo that would accept that he wouldn't play every single week and there would be moments that he wouldn't play and I think that's the big thing.
"He doesn't seem to take that too well, which is a good thing, he's obviously driven and wants to play every single match. But I'm 50-50, and I'm not just 50-50 from a point of view of whether the club wants to keep him but whether Cristiano wants to stay in Manchester and play at the club sort of into his 38th and 39th year."
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United's exit from the Champions League to Atletico Madrid on Tuesday night has increased more pressure on the squad to achieve a top-four finish this season. Failure to do so would cause catastrophic damage and, potentially, leave them struggling to retain Ronaldo's services.
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