Spartak Moscow have poked fun at Manchester United striker Cristiano Ronaldo, as his hopes of leaving Old Trafford have taken another blow.
Earlier in the window, Ronaldo told the Red Devils that he would be open to leaving the club, should Erik ten Hag’s side receive a suitable offer for him. United’s lack of Champions League football in the 2022/23 season is believed to be the chief reason behind him handing in a transfer request only a year after returning to Manchester from Juventus.
Chelsea and Bayern Munich have been among the clubs linked with interest in the five-time Ballon d’Or winner. However, reports claim that Blues boss Thomas Tuchel is not keen signing the 37-year-old this summer, while Bayern sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic has played down the German club’s interest in the striker.
While Ronaldo is seemingly available to clubs this summer, it appears as if the striker is not someone who is wanted by too many. The striker was linked with an offer of a £2million-a-week salary from an unnamed Saudi club that would have seen the striker earn £211m over two years. However, Ronaldo was reportedly not keen on pursuing that opportunity.
Now, Russian top-flight side Spartak Moscow have poked fun at Ronaldo, with no club of Ronaldo’s interest seemingly making a move towards signing him so far.
They quote tweeted an old photo where they messaged Lionel Messi on Instagram, saying “Hi, Leo!” with Messi replying “no”. Spartak then posted a photo of Ronaldo’s account seemingly saying “Hi, Spartak!” with the Russian club replying “no” just like Messi did in January 2021. They captioned the photos “Pain again. But not for us this time.”
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Ronaldo is yet to link up with United for pre-season and has missed both of their pre-season victories over Liverpool and Melbourne Victory this week due to “family reasons.”
Should the striker stay at United this summer, he would have two new teammates alongside him this term due to the Red Devils’ transfer business so far. They first signed Dutch international left-back Tyrell Malacia from Feyenoord in a move worth up to £15m before signing Danish midfielder Christian Eriksen on a free transfer.
United are also closing in on a move for Ajax centre-back Lisandro Martinez in what is set to be a five-year deal for a fee of around £46m. Martinez and his agent flew on a private jet to Manchester to complete the deal on Friday.
United will be playing in Europe this season, but a sixth-placed finish in the 2021/22 Premier League campaign means that they have only done enough to qualify for the group stages of the upcoming Europa League campaign.
Ronaldo has played in the last 19 seasons of the Champions League and is a five-time winner of the competition, winning the trophy once with United in 2008 and four times with Real Madrid.
He is also the all-time leading goalscorer in the competition with 141 goals, 16 more than the next highest, Ronaldo’s long-term rival Lionel Messi.
