Erik ten Hag appears to be the heavy favourite to become the next manager of Manchester United, with rumours even suggesting that the Dutchman has reached a verbal agreement with the Premier League giants. Of course, if the appointment does happen, it would be a major coup on the part of the Red Devils. But what would it mean for the Old Trafford future of Cristiano Ronaldo?
Ronaldo was welcomed back to Manchester United with open arms in the summer, as he joined from Juventus. Back then, he was viewed as the final piece of the puzzle, who would push the club back into Premier League contention.
After a bright start though, things have faded away significantly for Ronaldo, to the point where there are question marks about whether he should be left on the bench. He is going through one of the driest spells in front of goal of his career.
And as reported by the Daily Star, Ten Hag has given the green light for Ronaldo to leave Manchester United in the summer as he has made it clear that the Portuguese superstar will not be a part of his long-term plans at Old Trafford.
Ten Hag decides Ronaldo’s future at Manchester United
It will be very interesting to see what the future holds for Ronaldo at Manchester United. It is not hard to understand why he might not be in the long-term plans of a manager like Ten Hag. Of course, even if the club want to let him go, it would not be simple to find him a new home.
Ronaldo is 37 years of age already and no longer the player that he was during his prime. Thus, there are very few clubs in the world, where he could go from here.
Would he want to remain in Europe? Or would he want to try a different experience and go to somewhere like the MLS? There are a lot of questions whose answers are not clear at the moment. One thing that does seem pretty clear though is the fact that Ronaldo’s second stint at Manchester United is not going the way that he would have hoped for.