Cristiano Ronaldo: Could he join Napoli this summer?
Jacque Talbot
- Updated: 5 Jul 2022 20:28 BST
- 4 min read
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Napoli believe they won’t win the race to sign Cristiano Ronaldo this summer, after the the Portuguese announced his desire to leave Manchester United.
FootballTransfers has been informed that the club feels that there is zero chance of nabbing the United attacker in this window.
Yesterday, we reported that the Serie A side were one of a number of clubs who had registered an interest in the superstar - Chelsea and Bayern Munich are two others - but there is a complete lack of confidence from Napoli that such a move could come into fruition.
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Ronaldo, 37, has asked Man Utd to accept any bids that come in for him this summer if they are deemed respectable. The Portuguese superstar only re-joined the Old Trafford club last summer, after spending 12 years at Real Madrid and Juventus, but he already wants to leave again.
Sources have told FootballTransfers that Ronaldo is unhappy with Man Utd's lack of business so far this window. The Portuguese icon still loves the club that made him a star, but he wants to carry on competing at the highest level, something Man Utd can't provide.
The Red Devils don't want to let Ronaldo leave the club, but the player is worried about how they will look next season and has asked them to accept any reasonable offer that comes in for him.
The forward netted 18 Premier League goals last season, but that tally was only good enough to help Man Utd to sixth place in the English top flight. As a result, the Red Devils qualified for the Europa League, a competition Ronaldo has never played in.
In fact, Ronaldo has featured in 19 consecutive Champions League campaigns since he left Sporting CP to join Man Utd way back in 2003. He still believes he is capable of competing at the very highest level for three or four more years, and has therefore asked the club to let him leave in order to play in Europe's elite club competition.
Napoli fell out of the Serie A title race in the latter stages of the 2021/22 season, but they did qualify for the Champions League after finishing third in the Italian top flight.
Ronaldo to leave Man Utd
Napoli are one of several clubs that Jorge Mendes has reportedly offered Ronaldo's services to. Chelsea, Bayern Munich, Roma and his former club Sporting have also made contact with Mendes over a possible summer move.
However, while Napoli have been linked with a move, they personally don't believe there is any chance of Ronaldo arriving at the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium. The one edge they do hold over Roma is the fact they qualified for the Champions League, while Jose Mourinho's side will compete in the Europa League like Man Utd. Mourinho and Ronaldo do share the same agent, however.
Napoli have signed Andre Zambo Anguissa from Fulham, Mathias Olivera from Getafe and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia from Dinamo Batumi so far this summer.
