Cristiano Ronaldo has almost definitely committed his future to Man Utd for this season and inadvertently rules out a late switch to Chelsea amid Todd Boehly's Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang fear.
The 37-year-old started the summer transfer window with one aim and ambition- to leave Old Trafford for a second time to play Champions League football in 2022/23. A mission which started well with super agent Jorge Mendes sounding out potential suitors for the five-time Ballon d'Or winner. There was even one point where Chelsea looked like properly progressing on this deal for CR7.
football.london understands that Todd Boehly met up with Mendes in Portugal and left the meeting wanting to go through with this Hollywood-type signing. A deal which was halted at the start by manager Thomas Tuchel who instead wants Barcelona's Aubameyang to fill a temporary void left up top by the departures of Timo Werner and Romelu Lukaku.
READ MORE: Man United drop major Cristiano Ronaldo transfer hint as Chelsea's stance remains consistent
There was a feeling that if the former Arsenal man didn't want to move to his London rivals, Ronaldo would come back into the question with some reports stating that Tuchel could do a U-turn on his initial stance.
However, United's number 7 has dropped a number of hints that he will be content to stay at least this season via social media stunts like the club posting many training pictures of him on their socials. More recently though, the Portugal international modelling this season's third kit was a huge hint itself that Erik ten Hag's key man was going to commit for one more season.
Something which ten Hag himself confirmed and in the process, ended all the media speculation. "That is your assumption [that Cristiano Ronaldo wishes to leave]. That is not what he is telling me," the Dutch manager said in the embargoed section of his press conference ahead of Brentford.
"I deal with the players we have, we plan with him [Ronaldo] this season, we are happy with him and now we have to fit him into the team, so he has to come to the right fitness levels so that he can do the job we expect him to do."
With Chelsea and Boehly only currently willing to pay half of Barca's £21m asking price for the Gabon striker, it's now a situation of boom or bust seemingly on the striker front. Pay the £21m or walk away and go with what you have which even Tuchel himself knows Is limited.
Chelsea fans- If both Cristiano Ronaldo and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang both became unattainable at this late stage of the transfer window, is there any striker, in particular, who you want to see the club make a late swoop for? Leave your thoughts in the comments section below!
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