'Man Utd in bottom half without Ronaldo' - Neville
FT Desk
- 15 Aug 2022 20:55 BST
- 3 min read
Manchester United legend Gary Neville thinks the Red Devils would be making a big mistake if the allowed Cristiano Ronaldo to leave this summer.
Ronaldo looks to be on his way out of the club as he looks to see out his career playing Champions League football - something United missed out on last season after their sixth-place finish in the Premier League.
United finished second in England the season before Ronaldo returned, when Bruno Fernandes was their 12-goal top scorer, but Neville - who won eight league titles in 19 years with the Red Devils - doesn't see where goals will come from without his Portuguese compatriot.
Ten Hag shows Ronaldo who's boss!
Where does their relationship go now? 🤔@jacobsben of @cbssportsgolazo reveals all 👇 pic.twitter.com/P6fccj4xzv— Football Transfers (@Transfersdotcom) August 8, 2022
Atletico Madrid are beginning to emerge as Ronaldo's most likely destination with Diego Simeone confident he can get the best out of the player in the autumn of his career as he did with Luis Suarez, and Alvaro Morata set to be used as a makeweight.
"United are damned if they do, damned if they don't on Ronaldo," Neville told Sky Sports on Monday Night Football. "It seemed like the best thing was to facilitate a move away. Now, if they lose him, there is NO goalscoring left.
"If they don't bring players in, or players don't perform, and Ronaldo leaves, I think they can finish bottom half of the Premier League."
United are currently rock-bottom of the league after losing 2-1 to Brighton on the opening day before last Saturday's humiliating 4-0 defeat at Brighton.
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Ronaldo was only fit enough for the bench in the first of those after missing the majority of pre-season, while he ignored Erik ten Hag one leaving the field after a goalless 90 minutes in the latter.
"They're absolutely demoralised and shot to pieces," Neville continued. "Erik ten Hag in pre-season got them to a confident level. But they have gone back to default. To not got the players he wanted is an absolute shocker."
