Manchester United need to offload unhappy Cristiano Ronaldo if they are serious about closing the gap to their Premier League rivals, says Paul Merson.
Ronaldo has informed United that he wants to be granted a transfer away from the club. The 37-year-old is desperate to play Champions League football next season in order to further his legacy in the competition and is unwilling to take part in Erik ten Hag’s rebuilding job at Old Trafford.
He held showdown talks with Ten Hag and chief executive Richard Arnold on Tuesday and remains determined to leave. Ronaldo missed United’s pre-season tour of Thailand and Australia for 'family reasons' and arrived for training at Carrington on Friday with his future in the balance.
Ten Hag has made it clear he expects the Portuguese striker to fulfil his contract, but Merson believes that stance will prove detrimental to the team. With Manchester City and Liverpool strengthening through the signings of Erling Haaland and Darwin Nunez respectively, the former Arsenal midfielder thinks United have to act fast or risk getting cut further adrift.
“Ronaldo has told you what he wants, so why hang onto him? Man United have got to draw the line and get rid of him if they really want to catch Man City and Liverpool,” Merson wrote in his Daily Star column.
“If they can make him out to be the bad one, I think they've had a result. In all honestly, I don't think he does them any favours anyway. People say he got 24 goals last season but Man United never looked like winning anything.
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“It's alright him doing that but it's like a snooker player making 147s every game but never winning a tournament.”
United appear unwilling to follow Merson’s idea and remain keen for Ronaldo to honour his contract, which runs until June 2023, with the option of a further 12 months. Ten Hag maintains that he is excited to work with Ronaldo ahead of the start of United’s Premier League campaign against Brighton next weekend.
Asked if he was worried about the speculation overshadowing his preparations, Ten Hag said: "Concerning is maybe not the right word. I focus on the players who are there and they are doing really well. They are in good shape and I have further focus on that and develop that. I cannot wait for him to come in and then we will integrate him."
Even if the Red Devils wanted to sell Ronaldo, doing so would prove difficult. He earns around £500,000 per week and seldom few clubs can afford such outlay in the post-Covid climate.
He has been tentatively linked with Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid and Sporting Lisbon recently but no offers have been tabled. Ronaldo’s agent, Jorge Mendes, remains on the case and is reportedly in talks with Sporting about a blockbuster summer transfer.
