Jamie Carragher calls for Cristiano Ronaldo to leave Manchester United so the club can ‘rebuild’.
The former Liverpool player thinks Ronaldo has to leave Man United.
According to Jamie Carragher, Manchester United must start rebuilding under Erik ten Hag before Cristiano Ronaldo leaves the team.
The five-time Ballon d’Or winner’s future has continuously framed United’s summer transfer window. The deadline of September 1 is now less than two weeks away, and Ronaldo’s future at the club is still up in the air.
The 37-year-old played in the first two Premier League games under Ten Hag after missing the club’s preseason trip, with the Portuguese international starting XI for the 4-0 loss at Brentford.
Ronaldo is rumored to desire to leave United and join a Champions League team, and Ten Hag would not stand in the way of that.
The desire to retain Ronaldo, according to Joel Glazer, is also believed, which could lead to disagreements among the club’s decision-makers. Although this would put United in an unpleasant position, it might also give Ten Hag a moment of authority as the Dutchman tries to establish his own ideology at Old Trafford.
The former Liverpool player and Sky Sports analyst, Carragher, believes that United would be better off without Ronaldo since he has an opinion on the player’s future.
He stated: “I think it’s best for him to move because he wants to go, he feels that himself, it’s very evident,” on the Sky Sports Football Podcast.
“When the transfer window closes, he said he’ll release a statement. However, I have the impression that while Ronaldo is still on the team, any major cultural or quality changes that Man United may need to make in order to start the process of catching Liverpool and City over the next few years won’t be possible.
“It just seems like they should be signing the new Ronaldo rather than the old Ronaldo simply because of the man’s presence and age.
I keep coming back to Casemiro because I find it peculiar and think Manchester United should be bringing in the next Casemiro. It feels like signing players who are the next greatest.
“Even if it means he isn’t as excellent as the previous Casemiro right now, you say we’ll have one of the best players in that position in two or three years and we’ll have him for the next five or six years, and that’s what I find pretty peculiar with that agreement.
“Ronaldo is a phenomenon; to score 20 goals at his age for one of the top teams in the world demonstrates his talent, but I just think his presence, he doesn’t want to be there, and it feels to me like the rebuilding project at Manchester United can’t start until he’s moved on,” said the author.
