Manchester United's summer transfer window can best be described as underwhelming at present. The lack of signings arriving at the Theatre of Dreams is the headline of the summer so far but the current departures have shown signs that the Reds are moving in the right direction.
Despite having offered him a contract, Paul Pogba leaving United is their greatest bit of business this summer to date. If Pogba had agreed to another lucrative deal at Old Trafford the comparisons with Groundhog Day would have been too hard to resist, but United have shown that they are starting to break the chain of failure which has tormented the club for too long.
Where they must now make headway is in bringing new faces for the Erik ten Hag era. Fortunately for United, their number seven may have done more for them than any influx of cash could possibly have achieved.
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Cristiano Ronaldo is one of a select group of players that will go down as a legend of the game. His elite attitude towards both training and performance has been lauded by all who know him.
However, with that comes expectations from the player. At the forefront of this would be his expectation to be playing Champions League football.
Of course, this is something which Manchester United cannot currently offer him after a poor season under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Ralf Rangnick. Ronaldo is not absolved of all blame for this but you would forgive him if he was weighing up a move away from Old Trafford.
With such a limited time left on his career and with Chelsea plus Bayern Munich reportedly sniffing around him, Ronaldo could have been easily tempted to jump ship. But, as MEN Sport reported on Saturday, United have insisted that the Portuguese ace is not for sale and they are confident they will keep hold of the forward.
Should Ronaldo stay that would give United a huge boost, not only on the pitch but also in the transfer window. Ensuring that a player like Ronaldo is content enough to stay at the Reds despite no promise of Champions League football gives Ten Hag a huge green tick next to his name.
Would he have remained at the club if the Dutchman had not been appointed? It is hard to say but it should hopefully convince some of Ten Hag's transfer targets that United can still help players achieve their goals.
The likes of Frenkie de Jong and Jurrien Timber, who have reportedly been on the fence about moving to Manchester, will see Ronaldo committing his future to the club as a statement of intent. If one of the greatest of all time can be convinced to stay for the Ten Hag project, surely anyone can.
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