Ronaldo is finally back at United - but his future remains unclear (2024)

At 10.45am on Tuesday, Cristiano Ronaldo arrived at Manchester United’s Carrington training ground, accompanied by his agent Jorge Mendes.

A month has passed since The Athletic revealed Mendes had held talks with new Chelsea co-owner Todd Boehly, with the United forward’s future one of the topics discussed. It then emerged the 37-year-old Ronaldo wanted to leave the club just a year after rejoining them following over a decade with Real Madrid and then Juventus to play Champions League football again in the coming season if a suitable offer was made.

Ronaldo missed five days of training at Carrington under new manager Erik ten Hag and then did not go on the club’s pre-season tour to Thailand and Australia for what were described as family reasons.

In the intervening weeks, so much has been left unresolved; so much unsaid. Ronaldo’s Instagram posts have been dissected for clues, with his Old Trafford team-mates asked about the situation at regular intervals.

United’s position has consistently been that Ronaldo is not for sale but, as late as Monday morning, they still did not know whether he would report for training the following day. Only that evening did it emerge Ronaldo was flying back to England to hold talks with club officials.

He duly reported for duty on Tuesday morning, passing through the security gate at their training ground on the south western outskirts of Manchester and stopping to sign autographs for a group of young supporters.

Five minutes later, via the back entrance into Carrington, the club’s iconic former manager Sir Alex Ferguson arrived, too.

United have said Ferguson was there for a previously scheduled lunch with chief executive Richard Arnold, football director John Murtough, former chief executive David Gill and Bryan Robson, rather than to take part in talks with Mendes, or Ronaldo himself.

It was, of course, Ferguson who played a key role in convincing the Portugal international to return to United last summer, phoning him directly when neighbours Manchester City were expressing interest and utilising his good relationship with Mendes to ensure Ronaldo chose United. Given their close bond, it seems plausible that the forward and his former manager, whom he has likened to a father figure, could have had a conversation at Carrington on Tuesday.

It was Arnold and Murtough, however, who were there to speak to Mendes.

And after that meeting, United’s stance on Ronaldo not being for sale remains the same: they view him as an important player whom Ten Hag has consistently said he wants as part of his team.

Ronaldo did not participate in training with the rest of the squad on Tuesday but did undergo a series of medical and fitness tests, just as all players do on their first day back from the summer break.

He also spoke to Ten Hag in person for the first time since expressing his desire to leave became public. The Dutchman has held one-on-one meetings with each member of the squad.

Ronaldo remains determined to play in the 2022-23 Champions League, something United are unable to offer after a sixth place finish that instead puts them in the second-tier Europa League, while the club’s stance is still that they are not interested in selling their star player.

He is also yet to find a team willing to take him on, despite suggestions he is willing to take a pay cut on his wages, believed to be in the region of £450,000 a week, to get what he wants.

Mendes met Boehly in June but nothing materialised on that front and Chelsea eventually distanced themselves from the idea.

Napoli, back in Italy, were another side mooted, so too Bayern Munich before the serial German champions ruled themselves out. Speaking to Bild last week, Oliver Kahn, Bayern’s chief executive, explained his rationale for passing up the chance to sign Ronaldo, calling him “a fantastic player with a fantastic past”.

It is worth noting the fact that Ronaldo being turned down by clubs across Europe — in such a public manner — will not be doing his current value any favours.

He now has less than 12 months remaining on his contract — though it contains the option of an additional year — and, as it stands, his opportunities to leave United in this transfer window appear to be limited.

His return to the club this week is being interpreted in some quarters as a positive sign for United’s hopes of keeping him, although it has emerged in recent days that Atletico Madrid are interested in the forward.

That would prove to be a contentious switch given his connection to city rivals Real, the club where Ronaldo scored a record 450 goals in all competitions over nine years after joining from United in the summer of 2009.

Antoine Griezmann is thought to be available this summer, a situation of which United are aware, but the idea of a potential swap deal involving the two players has been dismissed at this stage. On Tuesday night, Atletico president Enrique Cerezo called a move for Ronaldo “practically impossible”.

Having arrived mid-morning, players trickled away from Carrington throughout Tuesday afternoon following their first session back after returning from Australia at the weekend. Ronaldo left at around 5pm.

New signings Christian Eriksen and Lisandro Martinez arrived together just before 11am. Martinez’s £55million ($66.3m) transfer from Dutch champions Ajax, Ten Hag’s previous club, is yet to be officially announced by United.

Centre-backs Harry Maguire and Victor Lindelof spent Tuesday evening watching England’s 4-0 win over Sweden in the Women’s European Championship semi-final at Bramall Lane in Sheffield, where they were joined by former United team-mate Juan Mata.

The squad will continue training at Carrington throughout the week and will play fifth-tier Wrexham in a behind-closed-doors friendly today (Wednesday). It is unlikely that Ronaldo will be with the team for that game owing to his recent return.

United will then travel to Oslo, Norway to play Atletico Madrid on Saturday before returning immediately to Manchester to face Rayo Vallecano at Old Trafford in their final warm-up match on Sunday before the Premier League season-opener there against Brighton a week later.

Given he has not trained with the squad for three weeks, a period in which Ten Hag has begun to implement his tactical instructions, there is doubt as to whether Ronaldo will be involved in those fixtures, either.

But with Ronaldo’s future still up in the air, it threatens to overshadow what has so far proven to be a successful pre-season for Ten Hag.

The 52-year-old was peppered with questions about Ronaldo during his first press conference in Thailand, and they will continue to be asked until a solution is found either way.

(Top photo: Peter Powell/PA Images via Getty Images)