Cristiano Ronaldo Tempted To LEAVE Manchester United As He Fears Club Will Slip Even Further Behind City And Liverpool

Cristiano Ronaldo is reportedly contemplating leaving Manchester United this summer due to a lack of transfer activity, as he wants to compete for trophies in the final seasons of his career.

This is according to Manuel Sainz of AS, who is often viewed as a reliable source for news relating to the Portuguese legend due to his ties with the player's agent Jorge Mendes.

Cristiano Ronaldo joined Manchester United for the second time in his career towards the end of August last season in what was one of the most dramatic transfer window days in recent history. After it was heavily reported that the striker was set to join Manchester City, at the final moment the Red Devils swooped in to collect their once young winger for a fee of £12 million.

Cristiano Ronaldo was the icing on the cake of a brilliant transfer window for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, who had already secured the signatures of the world-class level talent Jadon Sancho and serial winning defender Raphael Varane, while also securing the signature of Manchester United old-boy Tom Heaton.

What came next was a spectacular second debut from one of the greatest players of all time, scoring two crucial goals against Newcastle United as the club crushed the Magpies in an eventual 4-1 victory.

Ronaldo seemed to pick up right where he left off at the Old Trafford club, scoring again in the Champions League and continuing on a rich vein of goalscoring form, putting in some incredible displays such as against Tottenahm Hotspur at their shiny new stadium, scoring a wonderful goal in a triumphant 3-0 victory.

However, this optimism did not last long, as the season quickly declined in quite epic fashion for Solskjaer, climaxing with a 5-0 defeat at Old Trafford to Liverpool before a 2-0 loss to Manchester City, and it was a 4-1 defeat to Watford away from home that saw the club sack the Norwegian manager.

Soon after, Ralf Rangnick was appointed as interim manager, and there were many questions as to if Ronaldo would fit under the German’s new high energy system.

This felt like it was soon confirmed as the striker failed to score on several occasions initially under Rangnick, and there even came a point where Anthony Elanga started up front over the 37-year-old. However, this poor form did not last long.

Ronaldo got himself back up and firing against Arsenal with two goals in a 3-2 victory, before then netting a hat-trick against Tottenham Hotspur in yet another 3-2 win over a London club at Old Trafford, where he netted what would go on to be voted as Manchester United’s goal of the season from 30 yards out into the top left hand corner.

There came a point where Ronaldo had scored eight of Manchester United’s last nine Premier League goals, which although impressive, is quite dismal showing from the rest of the Manchester United side.

However dismal that scoring record may be, it is now the turn of the club’s hierarchy to have a dismal few weeks; this time on the topic of transfers.

Erik ten Hag has made his priorities clear, reportedly wanting to sign Frenkie de Jong, Christian Eriksen and Ajax’s Antony, however with pre-season getting underway next week, none of these targets are close to being acquired – and according to Manuel Sainz, this is worrying Ronaldo.

According to the report, Cristiano Ronaldo does not want to spend his final seasons at elite level football without the option to add more trophies to his record; and with the current state of United’s lack of transfers in, the No.7 is worried that Manchester United will not be able to supply him with this opportunity.

Although originally determined to fulfill the remaining year on his contract even though the club are not in next season’s Champions League tournament, the arrivals of players such as Erling Haaland at Manchester City and Darwin Nunez, a United target, at Liverpool have worried the Portuguese gunman into fearing that United will slip even further away from their rivals.

Ronaldo wants reinforcements into the club, but it does not seem that the club are going to create the renewal of the squad that he deems ‘necessary’.

Cristiano Ronaldo’s future depends largely on how this transfer window goes for Manchester United, and fans cannot blame him. As a player who has known nothing but the hunger for complete and utter success and domination for his entire career, United are moving like an animal who can’t be bothered to go and hunt their lunch.

With the latest reports suggesting that Christian Eriksen would prefer to stay in London ahead of moving to Manchester and Barcelona playing hard-ball with Frenkie de Jong, Erik ten Hag could start pre-season with a squad that’s, on the face of it, lost five key members in Juan Mata, Paul Pogba, Edinson Cavani, Nemanja Matic and Jesse Lingard while replacing them with genuinely no one.

The club are set to face their first pre-season opponent in Liverpool on the 12 July in Bangkok before jetting off to Australia to do battle with Aston Villa, Melbourne Victory and Crystal Palace.

Ten Hag’s men will then face two Spanish sides in two days back in Europe, starting with Cristiano Ronaldo’s familiar foes in Atletico Madrid in Olso on 30 July and then Rayo Vallecano at OldTrafford, the weekend before the club open their Premier League campaign against Brighton & Hove Albion.