Gary Neville would like Cristiano Ronaldo to stay in the Premier League after leaving Manchester United.
The club terminated Ronaldo’s contract with the Red Devils following his explosive interview with Piers Morgan last month.
He is currently a free agent and is on the hunt for a new club and recent reports have strongly linked him with Saudi Arab club Al-Nassr in a record £173million-a-year deal. However, the club president has denied any talks with the player.
With his future uncertain, Gary Neville has urged him to join another Premier League club.
He told Sky Sports:
“I hope he finds happiness and a club that will get him into the team and getting him scoring the goals that we know he can score – he’ll score 20 goals in 30 matches wherever he plays, maybe 20 goals in 20 matches, knowing him.
“But how does he see the end of his career playing out? Does he see the end of his career playing out in lesser leagues, or does he see it playing out at one of the major leagues and continuing at that level?
“I hope it’s the latter, and I hope he can find a club in then major leagues, even the Premier League.
“I’d love him to stay in the Premier League at a club that can have him up front and we can watch him every week because that’s what we want to see, we want to see him playing.”
There has surprisingly been very little interest from top European clubs for Cristiano Ronaldo. He was desperate to leave United in the summer as well but not only did he not receive any concrete offers, a number of clubs including the likes of Atletico Madrid, Chelsea, and Napoli rejected the chance to sign him.
After his disappointing World Cup exit, Ronaldo flew to Real Madrid and trained there for a couple of days to remain in shape. He has now flown to Dubai as he steps up his search for a new club.
There has not been much interest from Premier League clubs for him recently. The only clubs who can afford him would perhaps be Chelsea, Manchester City, and Newcastle. Chelsea’s new owner was keen on signing the Portuguese in the summer but Thomas Tuchel did not want him. They have a new manager now but after his antics at Manchester United, clubs might be discouraged to sign him.