Cristiano Ronaldo has seemingly hinted that he will be staying at Manchester United this summer.
The Portugese superstar’s two-year contract at Old Trafford is not set to expire until June 2023, yet there has been fierce debate over recent months as to whether he should leave for a second time at the end of the season.
While Ronaldo has proved United’s saviour on plenty of occasions with 24 goals in 38 appearances across all competitions this term, many have questioned his place in what is expected to be a drastic rebuild of the ailing Red Devils under new permanent manager Erik ten Hag.
However, the five-time Ballon d’Or winner appeared to strongly hint that he would be staying put after again enjoying a starring role against Brentford in the Premier League on Monday night.
Ronaldo is now only four strikes behind Liverpool leader Mohamed Salah in the Golden Boot race after dispatching a second-half penalty in the morale-boosting 3-0 victory over Brentford. He had earlier seen an initial effort ruled out for offside before the interval.
After emphatically scoring his spot-kick, Ronaldo pointed to himself and then down to the Old Trafford turf, seemingly indicating that he may be staying after all.
Then, while soaking up the adulation of the fans during a post-match lap of honour to mark the last home match of a difficult United campaign, he appeared to mouth to the Sky Sports cameras: “I’m not finished.”
Interim boss Ralf Rangnick insisted once again after the win over Brentford that any decision on Ronaldo’s future should be deferred to Ten Hag, yet he backed the 37-year-old to remain part of the squad despite his repeated claims that United will need to sign at least two top-class strikers this summer.
“The way we played again tonight, not only because he scored he also won the penalty and helped defensively, why should he not be part of the squad and help the team?” said Rangnick. “But this is a question you have to ask Erik and also Cristiano.
“Cristiano is not a central striker. He does not want to play in that position but if you look at international football there are not many teams who play with two strikers.
“For me, it is a question of what players Manchester United have in the future. It is obvious United need two more quality strikers. Modern strikers do not necessarily have to be strikers. Liverpool or Manchester City have five or six top-class strikers. If you ask me if Gabriel Jesus or Jack Grealish is a winger or a striker, they can all play there.
“Mason Greenwood would have been one, then after the West Ham game he was no longer part of the squad. Anthony Martial was on loan and Edinson Cavani injured.”
