Towards the end of the transfer window, all options away from Manchester United looked closed for Cristiano Ronaldo apart from one avenue.
In the days leading up to the deadline, Napoli considered a deal for the 37-year-old, who told the Reds he wanted to leave earlier in the summer. No bid arrived meaning Ronaldo will now stay at United until at least January.
Earlier in the window, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid and Chelsea - among other elite clubs - all ruled themselves out of the race for the attacker. Maurizio Arrivabene, CEO of former club Juventus, called the situation “sad” but underlined that it was “no longer our problem” in comments that many took as a dismissal of a Ronaldo return.
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Some reports in Italy claimed Napoli were eyeing the veteran in a potential swap deal that involved in-form forward Victor Osimhen, who scored 18 times last season. However, this was ultimately dismissed by his agent, who said there had been “no negotiations in progress, no swaps.”
Now, Napoli sporting director Cristiano Guintoli has revealed the full extent of the club’s negotiations with Ronaldo, admitting that “real” talk never took place. "It is bad to extinguish the dreams of the fans, “ he began, when speaking to Il Napolista .
“But there has never been a real negotiation, we are very close to our players. We consider the team very competitive".
Ronaldo has only started one match this season - the 4-0 defeat to Brentford - and has been benched for the last four games, albeit has come on in all of them. Erik ten Hag has insisted the striker remains in his plans since his arrival at Old Trafford, which in recent matches indicate he will be a bit-part player.
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