Cristiano Ronaldo transfer saga threatens to derail Man Utd boss Erik ten Hag’s plans to revive fallen giant

CRISTIANO RONALDO was brought back to Manchester United to get them on the right tracks.

There is an argument his return derailed the club further when there was actually some light at the end of the tunnel.

And, as the saga over his future drags on, it continues to do so.

In only his second press conference since becoming the new United manager, Erik ten Hag had to field question after question on the club legend.

Ronaldo is not even here in Bangkok as the Dutchman tries to block out the noise and get his message across to his new charges loud and clear.

Yet the Portugal superstar has been the main issue for his clubs and country for some time now — and continues to be at United even in his absence.

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He is not on the pre-season tour to Thailand and Bangkok citing family reasons. He wants out.

The club have known this would be the outcome since the new year when his representatives made it clear that without a top-four finish he would be curtailing his two-year contract by 12 months.

The club’s shocking demise post Ole Gunnar Solskjaer during the interim reign of Ralf Rangnick only served to harden his stance.

The place was a shambles at the end of last season and still is to an extent.

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Even at 37, the Portuguese ace believes he can add to his haul of Champions League medals.

But not here, not at United, not at the place where his legend was born and is now becoming somewhat tainted. Yes, he scored 24 goals last season and the majority of United fans will not hear a word against him.

However, there is an argument that his return halted the slow and steady progress Solskjaer had been making.

He was given Ronaldo as much to keep him out the clutches of neighbours Manchester City.

But having got United up to second place the previous season and into a major final, the line on the graph was going up.

Then the sharp downturn came with Ronaldo in the team.

Simply, Solskjaer’s long-term planning was for a more fluid front three than a main man in the middle who demanded the ball be played to him.

Younger players like Marcus Rashford began to shrink into a shell, uncertain whether to trust their instincts or bow to Ronaldo’s demands.

Likewise Mason Greenwood — prior to his suspension from United. Anthony Martial just disappeared.

Cliques began to form as Ronaldo’s demanding nature on the training field and on matchday rubbed some up the wrong way.

The player himself, meanwhile, grew increasingly frustrated at the drop in standards at a club he no longer  recognised from his glory days between 2003-09.

Fred alluded to that disunity in the camp out here when asked how the team could start heading in the right direction again.

The Brazilian said: “We have to be united. All aspects of last season were difficult, which is hard.

“This season with a new manager, with new rules already, we’ll look to unite and stick together as that’s how our team must be.

“We have to be strong, and to be strong we have to be united.

“We hope we can be focused and strong.”

The club continue to claim that Ronaldo will remain, as Ten Hag did yesterday.

He referred to a conversation he had with the player although the Dutch boss gave no details.

It came at the end of last season, as the manager had Zoom calls with a number of senior figures.

There is one suggestion that Ronaldo had suggested a way of playing that the manager did not agree with.

It involved playing two up front, something he had also suggested to Rangnick but which both rejected.

Indeed, Rangnick began to feel he would be better as an impact sub,  something he suggested to him before the last Manchester derby, which Ronaldo subsequently missed through injury.

Out here in Bangkok his name still adorns most replica shirts worn by the masses, who have besieged the team hotel, and the 10,000 who went just to watch them train last night.

There will be 60,000 here for today’s match against Liverpool.

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But if anyone was holding out any hope of an autograph they would have been much better off 6,500 miles away in Lisbon, where he is doing his own personal training.

The great return is coming to a sad and sorry end.

Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk