Cristiano Ronaldo is not currently a priority for Chelsea after being discussed as an option for the club in the summer transfer window.
That’s according to the latest from Fabrizio Romano in his exclusive CaughtOffside column, as he insists it’s too early to tell what the Blues will decide to do in January as they focus instead on appointing a new sporting director.
Todd Boehly took care of Chelsea’s transfer work in the summer, but it makes sense that he’ll want a specialist to come in now and help with talent spotting and transfer negotiations.
Romano has previously spoken about Boehly being keen on Ronaldo, but it is not yet clear if Thomas Tuchel’s departure as manager and former Brighton boss Graham Potter replacing him makes a future deal more likely.
As for Ronaldo, Romano has reiterated that the Portugal international remains focused on Manchester United.
“My understanding at the moment is that there is no talk about Cristiano Ronaldo as Chelsea are busy with different priorities, including the new director. That means it’s too early to know about Chelsea’s intentions for January,” Romano said.
. @StanCollymore on reports #CFC players were disrupted by Thomas Tuchel's private life ??
"Utter BS!" ? pic.twitter.com/epAgibhBYY
— CaughtOffside (@caughtoffside) September 12, 2022
“As I said on my recent YouTube video, Todd Boehly wanted Cristiano Ronaldo, but Thomas Tuchel was very clear on more than one occasion that he had no intention to go for Cristiano Ronaldo. He was offered to Chelsea, but also to Bayern Munich and Atletico Madrid.
“For now, he is a Manchester United player, and he remains 100% professional in training as he looks to get back into the starting line up.”
Chelsea had a busy summer, bringing in Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang up front, so it might be that they won’t find room for Ronaldo to come in as well when the transfer window re-opens in January.