There’s a lot of uncertainty surrounding Cristiano Ronaldo’s future at Manchester United at the moment, but should the club even be that worried about losing the Portugal international?
Ronaldo returned to Man Utd from Juventus last summer, and it’s fair to say he had a pretty positive impact with 24 goals in total, finishing as the Red Devils’ top scorer in an otherwise forgettable 2021/22 campaign.
Still, it remains to be seen how suitable Ronaldo would be to Erik ten Hag’s style of football, and there’s also another argument that he generally brings others in the team down by becoming so much of a focal point.
See below for these shocking stats showing how much the attackers and midfielders around Ronaldo saw their influence wane with his presence in the team, with Juventus players improving since he left…
Martial, Rashford, Sancho and Bruno will not have a good season if Ronaldo stays.
Ronaldo is the sort of player who stops the team from scoring 3 so he himself can score 1.
Erik ten Hag will probably come to realize this rather quickly but CR7 will still play due to politics. pic.twitter.com/IKs13Liab9
— J???? H????????? (@JackyHenchman) July 27, 2022
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One imagines these stats don’t tell the whole story, but it is perhaps a sign that it could be worth rebuilding without Ronaldo.
United have other quality players in attack who may well improve if they’re not just playing supporting roles to an ageing forward who doesn’t contribute much in the way of assists or pressing off the ball.