Game over: Ronaldo won't play for Man Utd again?

FT Desk

• 13 Nov 2022 16:30 GMT
• 4 min read

Cristiano Ronaldo may have already played his last ever Man Utd game after he was left out of the squad to play Fulham on Sunday.

Manchester United take on Fulham in west London in the final Premier League match of 2022 before the World Cup break.

Ronaldo did not travel to the English capital, having missed training on Saturday.

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Officially Cristiano was left at home due to illness, although there are those that no doubt will say that he was protecting himself before Portugal’s World Cup opener the week after next.

Nevertheless, Ronaldo’s absence means that it is very possible that he has already played his last game for Manchester United.

The 37-year-old is desperate to leave Man Utd in January – and it is widely reported that the club also wants to go its separate ways during the winter window as they are fed up by the player’s lack of professionalism.

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Ronaldo initially put in a transfer request to leave the club in July. He wanted to join a club that was in the Champions League and could challenge for major trophies. His agent Jorge Mendes offered him out to numerous clubs around Europe, without finding a taker.

Ronaldo chose not to go on tour with Man Utd during the summer, citing family reasons. He did not begin training again until the last week of pre-season, playing just one friendly match against Rayo Vallecano. He caused controversy during that game by leaving Old Trafford before the match had finished.

His attitude and body language were also called into question during the first two Premier League matches of the season, a 2-1 home defeat to Brighton and 4-0 loss at Brentford.

At full-time against Brentford he was filmed storming off down the tunnel and not acknowledging manager Ten Hag at full-time.

He then caused more controversy last month by refusing to come on as a substitute in the win over Tottenham, instead walking down the tunnel before the game was over.

He was dropped from the squad for the following game against Chelsea as a result.

Ronaldo was reintegrated into the first team in the last few games, but his performances on the pitch have been poor and he has scored just three goals in all competitions this season.

Has Ronaldo played his last Man Utd game?

It is expected that Man Utd will find him a new club during the World Cup break.

If that happens, then we may never see Ronaldo in a Manchester United shirt ever again.

Man Utd’s first game after the World Cup is on December 27 against Nottingham Forest, followed by Wolves on December 30.

If a club has already been found for Ronaldo by then, he could sit out those games to protect himself.

Additionally, Ronaldo would likely be granted extra rest if Portugal get to the latter stages of the World Cup – with the final on December 20. So he wouldn’t be expected to return to Carrington and training until January, anyway.

This is all adds to the possibility that Ronaldo won’t play again for Man Utd.