Gary Neville believes Manchester United could finish in the bottom half of the Premier League if they allow Cristiano Ronaldo to leave.
Speculation has followed Ronaldo throughout the summer, with the five-time Ballon d’Or winner having told the club he wants to leave. The 37-year-old is aiming to exit partly due to his desire to continue playing Champions League football.
United remain adamant that Ronaldo is not for sale, and they expect him to see out the final year of his contract. The Portugal international has cut a frustrated figure as the Reds have made a disastrous start to the season, following defeats to Brighton and Brentford.
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Rumours continue as to what the future holds for United and Ronaldo, with the club denying claims they were thinking of terminating the forward’s contract. Neville, though, believes things could get even worse should he leave.
“As I sit here today, I think there’s a massive decision they have to make on Cristiano Ronaldo and they’re damned if they do, damned if they don’t,” Neville told Sky Sports.
“A few weeks ago before the season started, the best thing to do was facilitate a move out of the club for Cristiano because he’s obviously not happy and the club aren’t happy with him. The problem they have now is if they lose him, there’s nothing left in terms of the goalscoring part of the pitch.
“I genuinely think if they don’t bring players in or if they bring in poor players and he leaves, I genuinely think they can finish in the bottom half of the table. That’s a bottom half of the table team.
“That’s a massive statement. Ten Hag is getting to know the level, but when I saw that team on Saturday, I’m not sure and I said set-pieces, physicality will cause a problem.”
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