Juventus hero Giorgio Chiellini foresaw Cristiano Ronaldo leaving Serie A last summer and his words can serve as welcome advice to Manchester United and Erik ten Hag regarding their five-time Ballon d'Or winner and his much-talked-about future at Old Trafford.
Ronaldo, 37, made his name in the Premier League between 2003 and 2009 before taking his iconic career to even greater heights in 12 years with Real Madrid and Juventus combined. He then completed a sensational return move to the place where it all began on a global scale last summer.
United pulled out all the stops to re-sign Ronaldo and, while he might not be the player he was, there was enough in the tank for him to score 24 goals in all competitions last season. Ronaldo was a rare shining light in what turned out to be a dismal campaign for all concerned.
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Ten Hag was sworn in as manager this summer, though, and the tone for his second coming changed. No longer is Ronaldo the first name on the team sheet (quite the opposite in fact) as Ten Hag and key figures in the boardroom aim to come up with their action plan for the Portugal captain.
With no takers for him this summer - despite Ronaldo expressing a desire to leave - he stayed put and speculation over his future continues to mount heading towards the January window. But might United have already been given the best way to handle his would-be departure?
During an interview with DAZN last year, Chiellini was asked about Ronaldo following his sensational return to Old Trafford after three years together as Juventus teammates and it seems there are at least some similarities between the situation the forward found himself in at the Italian club and his current one at United. Chiellini, who has since headed to the MLS with Los Angeles FC after nearly two decades in Turin, said: "I had already figured out he could leave this summer, because we reached a stage of the working relationship where Cristiano needed new motivation and a team that would play for him.
"When he finds a team like that, he can always be decisive, as he was at Juve too. Juventus are beginning a process of renewal and trying to bring the average age down, so clearly he would’ve been an added bonus if he’d stayed, but it’s fair he wanted a team more focused on the present than the future."
And in what could be something a warning for United over how they handle the situation, Chiellini insisted it would have been "better" for Juventus to part ways with Ronaldo sooner so they could "reorganise" their side without him. The Italian defender added: "Ronaldo left on August 28 and it certainly would’ve been better if he had gone earlier so we could prepare. Unfortunately, we paid a price for that.
"It does create a shock to the system and we lost points in the opening games because of that. If he’d left on August 1, then we would’ve had time to reorganise and be ready for the start of the season."
And Chiellini is not the only legend of the game who thinks it could be better to get things done quickly if United and Ronaldo are to go their separate ways for a second time.
Speaking about his former teammate, pundit Gary Neville said: "He needs to end it now for both parties. It can't go beyond January 1. The best thing for him to do this week is to call a meeting and say; 'My time is up here. Let me go to the World Cup, let me leave in January and choose a club of my choice'."
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