Rio Ferdinand believes Cristiano Ronaldo will stay at Manchester United this summer.
Ronaldo’s future has been a constant talking point throughout the summer, with various reports suggesting the Portugal international wants a move away from Old Trafford. His future at the club was thrown into doubt when United failed to qualify for next season’s Champions League, with Ronaldo keen to continue playing in the competition.
United have stood their ground on the matter though, insisting the 37-year-old is not for sale to any club this summer. That hasn’t stopped the speculation, which went into overdrive when Ronaldo missed the club’s pre-season tour earlier this summer.
The five-time Ballon d’Or winner returned to training at Carrington last week though, and made his first pre-season appearance in the final friendly of the summer against Rayo Vallecano on Sunday. Having seen him back in a United shirt, former defender Ferdinand doesn’t expect his former club to change their approach.
“The biggest thing for me is, if you’re Man United, where are you going to find 20 goals?” Ferdinand told FootballJOE.
“If you let Cristiano Ronaldo go now, where are the 20 goals coming from? Unless you believe in Martial, Rashford and Sancho to fill that void.
“If he [Ten Hag] thinks that, and he feels comfortable doing that, Cristiano probably goes to another team. The fact that Cristiano’s not been allowed to go anywhere says to me they want him back in the building, because they know he’s going to get them 20 goals this season.”
Asked whether Ronaldo should accept a diminished role at the club, Ferdinand replied: “I think age and your body tells you that, but when you look at someone like Cristiano, he’s a very, very unique case. Physically, we’ve never seen anyone like him, and I think you’ve got to look at his physicality and his profile in that sense and go ‘can he play a lot of games?’
“Last season, he showed people he can still play the games and still score the goals at the top level. Who in this team scores more goals than him? When a chance drops to this team, you put him in today without training, if you want a chance to drop to anyone in this squad now, who do you want it to drop to? It’ll be him.
“That tells you he’s still going to be a massive part of what you’re doing at the football club, and the fact they haven’t allowed him to go anywhere tells me that.”
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