Cristiano Ronaldo has played his last game for Manchester United, who will try and paint him as a villain when he leaves.
That is the view of Paul Merson, who thinks United made a mistake bringing Ronaldo back to the club and is not impressed by the timing of his decision to quit. Ronaldo skipped training on Monday for family reasons and has told the club he wants out, and although United insist he is not for sale, Merson reckons he is on way.
Writing in his Daily Star column, the former Arsenal and England forward said: "I don't see Ronaldo playing for United again." Merson thinks Ronaldo is mentally the strongest player football has ever seen and a genuine all-time great.
But he has also been a fierce critic of Ronaldo's return to Old Trafford and claims the Erik ten Hag revolution cannot get started until the Portugal star is gone. Merson said: "He scored his goals and won them plenty of points, but they finished outside the top four, and scored less goals as a team. Something's not right there, and I don't like what's happening now. If I'm being honest I don't really think Erik ten Hag wants him at the club."
Ronaldo was United's top scorer last season but the club finished a distant sixth in the Premier League, missing out on Champions League qualification. And the 37-year-old, who has a year left on his United contract plus an optional year, is not keen to play Europa League football for the first time in his career. So agents acting for the five-time Ballon d'Or winner are exploring his options in the transfer market.
Ronaldo has been offered to multiple clubs around Europe, but Chelsea have so far failed to move for him, and Bayern Munich have also decided publicly against signing him. That leaves the former Real Madrid forward in limbo - and United scratching around to sign a future with the future of their biggest star in doubt. Merson said: " Manchester United will try to paint Cristiano Ronaldo as the villain. And if he's really left it this late in the day to tell them he wants out, then he is!
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"You don't know what's happened behind the scenes, but I don't like this situation at all. We all knew in February that United weren't getting in the Champions League. Ronaldo should have said he was going as soon as the season ended. Now, he's just thrown United into turmoil. But it's a little bit of a game now where they will try to make him look like the villain.
"United now need a striker more than ever. But where are they going to find one? There aren't many around now Darwin Nunez has signed for Liverpool." United were in for Benfica striker Nunez but he joined Liverpool in a deal potentially worth £85m with add-ons instead.
