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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
Jake Polden

Cristiano Ronaldo told to 'call it a day' after 'not even top five best players' jibe

Cristiano Ronaldo should "do himself a favour" and "close the shop" in the face of his struggles this season.

That's the opinion of Antonio Cassano, who reckons the Manchester United forward is no longer playing at the same level he was when he was winning trophies every year and that it is perhaps time to call it quits.

Cassano, who played for Real Madrid for two years before Ronaldo joined the club in 2009, has previously slammed the 37-year-old, claiming he's not one of the top five players in football history. His latest comments about him were made on the back of Spain's 1-0 victory over Portugal in the Nations League on Tuesday.

Cassano told Cabine Desportiva: "At this point, Cristiano should do himself a favour and understand that if you don't reach a certain level, you should close the shop.

"He won everything, he was a phenomenon. Stop! You have to stop or you'll only run into the bench."

Ronaldo played a full 90 minutes for Portugal against Spain but struggled to have an impact on the game with calls for him to be dropped for the national team to allow the next generation to come through.

Will Cristiano Ronaldo be at Man United next season? Let us know in the comments below!

Portugal boss Fernando Santos went some way to pointing the finger of blame at the forward following the defeat, saying: "What interests me is how the team played.

"Ronaldo had three or four chances. Two very good ones, which he usually scores. He didn't score. It's football."

Santos did however suggest that he wouldn't react to the poor performance by dropping the forward.

Antonio Cassano clearly isn't a fan of Cristiano Ronaldo (Getty Images)

Meanwhile, Ronaldo's club career has stalled with Man United manager Erik ten Hag largely overlooking the five-time Ballon d'Or winner for Marcus Rashford as his lone number nine.

Ronaldo had been looking to leave United during the summer as he still has strong ambitions to play Champions League football.

He failed to secure a move away from the Red Devils and has this season played in the Europa League for the first time.

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