Cristiano Ronaldo has left Manchester United supporters disappointed after he expressed his desire to leave the club.
The Portuguese has submitted a transfer request to the Red Devils after being left underwhelmed with their poor performances last season and their lack of activity in the market thus far. Ahead of dropping his transfer bombshell though, it appears that the former Real Madrid and Juventus star had already upset a number of his current teammates - something that could even get far worse should he decide to wave farewell to Old Trafford.
Edinson Cavani was amongst those irked by Ronaldo’s arrival at the club initially with the Uruguayan holding the opinion that he would have been Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's first-choice striker. However, with Ronaldo being brought back from Juventus - and claiming Cavani's previo us number seven shirt - he was relegated to second-choice.
In the end, Cavani ended up making just 20 appearances in all competitions, scoring just twice, with injuries greatly impacting his campaign on a personal level.
In the meantime, Cavani's attacking colleague Anthony Martial was also left irritated with Ronaldo’s return to Manchester. It is said that the Frenchman's mood changed at Old Trafford having struggled for game time during the first-half of the campaign. He eventually joined La Liga side Sevilla on-loan until the end of the campaign but flattered to deceive in Spain having netted just one goal.
The final player to have felt the impacts of Ronaldo’s supposed emotional return to Old Trafford was Red Devils' captain Harry Maguire. The £80m defender felt undermined by the Portuguese’s position as a leader within the United squad.
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Whilst the Portuguese continued to excel from a personal perspective, the defender’s performances suffered to such an extent that Ralf Rangnick had to field questions over the England star’s suitability as captain.
Even club icon Gary Neville has suggested that Ronaldo’s arrival caused instant problems within the United dressing room. Speaking on Sky Sports’ The Overlap earlier this year, the former defender said: “I think at the start of the season, he created a problem straight away with Cavani.
“[Cavani was] being pleaded to stay and lead the attack for the year, but when they signed Ronaldo, Cavani was shot then and finished. It upset the dynamic in the dressing room for Bruno.
“I think Bruno looks up to him like a godfather in Portugal so it made him feel a bit inferior to what he was before. It made Maguire a little bit inferior as captain just naturally – nothing from Ronaldo’s doing this.
“Just his presence itself on the pitch means everyone’s looking to Cristiano with Harry trying to establish himself as United captain.”
It now remains to be seen what happens next after Ronaldo expressed his desire to leave the club. The Red Devils have taken a forthright stance regarding his future in that he is not for sale but there are already suitors monitoring the situation including potentially Chelsea and former club Juventus.
