For all of you out there who thought that everyday drama surrounding the Manchester United football club will stop once Erik ten Hag takes charge of the team – you were wrong. Everything changed, but somehow remained the same. Yes, the Dutchman snowed he is ready to change the culture of the club and bring back the old days, but he still has Cristiano Ronaldo in his team, and the Portuguese ace is of the best footballers on the planet, and also the biggest drama queen. And now all eyes are focused on Old Trafford again, due to Ronaldo’s talks with club executives over his stay with the Red Devils. Ronaldo did not participate in training with the rest of the squad on Tuesday but underwent a series of medical and fitness tests, just as all players do on their first day back. [@TheAthleticUK] #mufc— The United Stand (@UnitedStandMUFC) July 27, 2022 The current situation is like this: the Portuguese forwards asked United to leave last month and the club refused, insisting he won’t be sold. Yesterday, Ronaldo finally arrived to Manchester’s training complex with his agent Jorge Mendes but nothing significantly happened after the meeting. Everybody remained tight lipped, but the well informed British journalists who cover Manchester managed to ‘squeeze’ a couple of details. Cristiano Ronaldo flying back to ManchesterFirst of all, status quo remains. He wants to leave, the club won’t let him go. Off course, there were no hard words or arguments, it’s just the way things are. Ronaldo has been in this situation before with Juventus, but also managed to get away. He also has a very powerful agent, who will surely be in touch with Manchester’s executive Richard Arnold in the upcoming weeks, trying to resolve the situation. At 37, Ronaldo has no desire to play in the Europa League for the first time in his career. He has a few years left and he wants to win titles, break some more records and play in the Champions League. This season, Manchester cannot give him that. He and Mendes tried (just like last year) to contact the top clubs: Real, Bayern, PSG, but everybody politely refused. Loved scoring against them, now to join them? CR7 to Wanda Metropolitano could really happenThen Mendes started to lure the ‘second tier’ of European top clubs, starting with Atletico Madrid. They are in the Champions League, they are competitive and he would like to live in Madrid again, but on Tuesday night, Atletico president Enrique Cerezo dismissed the prospect and said the club could not afford Ronaldo.“I don’t know who invented this story about Cristiano Ronaldo to Atletico Madrid. It’s not true. It’s practically impossible for him to come to Atletico Madrid” said Cerezo on Spanish radio. ##NAJAVA_MECA_6531779##So, the situation remains the same: Richard Arnold and Jorge Mendez will continue to persuade each other, but the Portuguese will certainly try to find another club. There have been talks of a potential loan for Ronaldo, which would mean that he would actually stay with the club, but would play in the Champions League elsewhere next season, but all that is currently just a speculation. What really happened was that Ronaldo went through all the medical and fitness tests yesterday and even listened to, along with his teammates, a 90 minute analysis of the club’s preseason matches in Thailand and Australia, presented by coach Ten Hag. United face Wrexham in a behind-closed-doors friendly on Wednesday, but Ronaldo is unlikely to feature. United’s season starts on August 7th against Brighton, and by that time, this situation should be resolved.
