Ronaldo and Messi together at PSG? Why it could really happen
Robin Bairner
- 11 Feb 2022 11:23 GMT
- 3 min read
There are no guarantees that Cristiano Ronaldo will remain at Manchester United beyond the end of the season.
Reports suggest that Ronaldo is growing disillusioned about life back at Old Trafford, where he has discovered a team far weaker than the one he left in 2009 to move to Real Madrid.
Meanwhile, the hierarchy of the club are unlikely to see him as part of their long-term plans. Ronaldo, although still performing to a formidable level, is not the type of player who can be implemented into the type of modern pressing game that Ralf Rangnick would ultimately like to install.
Related articles
Ronaldo's limited options
Rangnick may only be Man Utd manager on a temporary basis, but his influence over the club is likely to be altogether more permanent, and while he has tentatively welcomed Ronaldo’s presence, there is little doubt that the pair have not hit it off immediately in terms of on-field results.
Should the five-time Ballon d’Or winner choose to leave Man Utd, though, there are only a limited number of possible destinations.
MLS has been talked of as one potential stopping point for the 37-year-old, though his desire to keep performing at the highest level means that it would still be surprising to see him turn out in the USA as early as next season.
In Europe, meanwhile, financial issues around the continent mean the traditional giants will not sign him and Man Utd surely will not sanction a sale to a Premier League rival.
Teaming up with Messi
Perhaps the most credible option, then, is Paris Saint-Germain.
With Kylian Mbappe looking likely to depart Parc des Princes this summer, a replacement is required. Erling Haaland has reportedly been made their ‘Plan B’, but Ronaldo would surely offer an attractive alternative should that fall through.
He is, after all, still scoring goals at a strong rate, physically remains a formidable specimen and would simply replace Mbappe on the club’s enormous pay roll.
From PSG’s perspective, too, it is a marketing dream. Already boasting Lionel Messi in their ranks, combining him with Ronaldo would capture the imagination of football supporters around the world.
Ronaldo, meanwhile, would have the opportunity to win a title in a fourth of Europe’s Big Five leagues and, perhaps most importantly, join a team that has genuine ambitions of winning the Champions League.
There was talk that Ronaldo and Messi might team up at PSG during the summer of 2021, but with the Portuguese unsettled at Man Utd, it is perhaps a more realistic prospect than ever at this point.
