Manchester United co-chairman Joel Glazer is against the prospect of selling of Cristiano Ronaldo despite the player's wish to leave the club.
It is understood United manager Erik ten Hag has privately been receptive to selling Ronaldo for weeks but Glazer has so far resisted any proactive attempts to sell the Portuguese.
Ronaldo, 37, is unhappy at United's failure to qualify for the Champions League, the 25% salary reduction he has incurred as a result, and the club's glacial movement in the transfer market.
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Ronaldo's partner, Georgina Rodríguez, is also believed to favour a return to Spain for their family. Ronaldo missed the entirety of United's pre-season tour due to a family issue.
Glazer sanctions every transfer at United and intervened to block the possible departure of Anthony Martial in 2018 even though the Frenchman's representative publicly said he wanted to leave.
Although Glazer has not been to Manchester or attended a United game since the Champions League quarter-final first leg against Barcelona in April 2019, he holds dialogue with chief executive Richard Arnold on an almost daily basis.
United denied a weekend report they could terminate Ronaldo's contract and sources insist the club's position that the forward is not for sale has not changed.
Sources believe there is now a concerted effort to accelerate Ronaldo's departure amid United's disastrous start to the new season. The atmosphere in the squad is still so toxic a dressing room row erupted two days before the 4-0 thrashing at Brentford.
Ronaldo's agent, Jorge Mendes, has sought an exit route for his client during the summer but Chelsea, Bayern Munich and Atletico Madrid have each distanced themselves from a move for Ronaldo. Sporting Lisbon have also been linked with Ronaldo.
United are in an invidious position with Ronaldo as they have failed to recruit an attacker to slot into their front three and lack established squad depth up front.
Ronaldo scored 24 goals in 38 games for United last season whereas Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho each tallied five and Martial mustered eight United goals in the last two seasons. Anthony Elanga has not scored since February.
Martial, Rashford and Sancho thrived on tour when Ronaldo was not present and his return to the fold quickly caused ructions when he left before the end of United's home friendly with Rayo Vallecano, having played in the first-half. Ronaldo was the only player involved in the match who left while it was still going on.
A number of players in the United squad would rather Ronaldo left whereas others are supportive of the four-times Ballon d'Or winner, who was credited with holding the dressing room together as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's tenure spiralled last season.
Ronaldo is particularly popular with the younger players and sent them a motivational video message that was played in the dressing room before the FA Youth Cup final victory over Nottingham Forest in May.
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