Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag is increasingly confident of keeping Cristiano Ronaldo at the club as we approach the transfer deadline.
That’s according to Fabrizio Romano in his exclusive CaughtOffside column on Substack, with the reporter seemingly not expecting much to change on Ronaldo’s future in the final hours of the transfer window.
The Portugal international’s agent Jorge Mendes has been working on getting the player out of Old Trafford this summer, but Romano insists that he’s never been particularly close to any other club.
We’ll see if that changes with any late twists and turns throughout today, but for the time being it seems Man Utd fans can expect to be seeing more of Ronaldo in the season ahead.
“The situation is calm around Cristiano Ronaldo and he has never really been close to any club, just a lot of speculation but no advanced talks,” Romano said.
“Ten Hag is convinced that he will ultimately remain at Man United, same for the board. I am sure that Cristiano will work at the best level also because in these difficult weeks he has always trained at excellent levels.
“The prospect of Ronaldo going to Napoli and Victor Osimhen was always a non-starter. There were some talks between Jorge Mendes and Napoli, but it was never going to happen because United have already spent big money on Antony, so would not pay the €100m asking price for Osimhen.”
This will surely get a mixed reaction from Red Devils supporters after the way Ronaldo has handled his saga this summer.
The 37-year-old missed much of United’s pre-season, undoubtedly making life difficult for the new manager when it was so vital to make a strong start.
It’s easy to understand, however, why Ronaldo might have been keen to leave for a Champions League club at this late stage in his career.