Cristiano Ronaldo has told Manchester United he wants to be freed from the final year of his £360,000-a-week contract, the Daily Mail has reported. The 37-year-old Portuguese superstar is poised leave Old Trafford this summer and has as a result communicated his wishes to the club ahead of the start of the new season.
Ronaldo missed out on United's season tour to Thailand and Australia after being given an extended vacation for 'personal reasons'. In his sabbatical, the player and his agent had been working tirelessly to secure a transfer elsewhere after he expressed his desire to play in the Champions League in the upcoming season. The five-time Ballon d'Or winner was offered to the likes of Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, Chelsea, Paris Saint-Germain and Atletico Madrid but none of them has explored the possibility of signing the attacker.
On Tuesday, the former Real Madrid and Juventus superstar returned to Manchester for a crunch meeting with the club's hierarchy. While United maintained their position of wanting to keep the Portuguese superstar at the club, the meeting apparently had an unsuccessful outcome. According to the Daily Mail, he and his agent Jorge Mendes informed the Red Devils that he wishes to be relinquished from his contract as he eyes a move to a Champions League side.
With just 12 months remaining on his current deal, Erik ten Hag has constantly reiterated that Ronaldo remains central to his plans this season. However, it seems the former Ajax manager might have to restrategize and potential welcome a new attacker to add to lot. It is speculated that the Red Devils could make a move for Ajax winger Antony should it become clear that their talisman will not continue at the club again.
Amid the current development, Daily Mail reported that Ronaldo is still carrying on in a professional manner and even underwent medical tests on Wednesday before watching his team-mates in a behind-closed-doors friendly match against Wrexham. It remains unclear if he will be involved in this weekend's double-header of friendlies against Atletico Madrid on Saturday in Oslo and Rayo Vallecano at Old Trafford on Sunday.
In a relative development, fans of Atletico Madrid showed opposition to rumors of Cristiano Ronaldo's purported pursuit with banner during a friendly match. The Los Rojiblancos' pre-season clash with Numancia on Wednesday, a group of the club's fans held a banner which read "CR7 not welcome". Last week, a report from Spain suggested that the club was putting Antoine Griezmann up for sale in order to fund a move for the wantaway Manchester United star.
