How Ferguson could smooth Ronaldo's Man Utd exit

FT Desk

• 5 Nov 2022 15:55 GMT
• 3 min read

Cristiano Ronaldo's time at Manchester United is drawing to a close, and the continued presence of Sir Alex Ferguson at Old Trafford could make the split more amicable than might otherwise have been the case.

Ronaldo returned to Man Utd last summer in a €15 million deal from Juventus, rejecting Manchester City at the last minute out of loyalty to Ferguson, who had previously managed him between 2003 and 2009.

"Don't go to City," the Scot said in the briefest of phonecalls to the Portuguese. Ronaldo took his advice, and duly top scored with 18 Premier League goals for the Red Devils last term.

READ: Cristiano Ronaldo at Man Utd: Goals, assists, results & fixtures in 2022-23

But Erik ten Hag has since been installed as manager and has other ideas for his attack, with Marcus Rashford invariably getting the nod to lead the line, with Ronaldo largely restricted to run-outs in the Europa League.

Various moves have been touted, with a blockbuster package of €300m to take Ronaldo to Saudi Arabia rejected by player and club this summer.

Atletico Madrid - having been knocked out of this season's Champions League - are now in a weaker bargaining position and perhaps more likely to accept Ronaldo as a potential makeweight in a deal for Joao Felix, while a move to David Beckham's Inter Miami can't be ruled out.

READ: Cristiano Ronaldo's potential options for a January transfer

Ferguson has remained a director and club ambassador since his retirement as manager in 2013, and his presence at Old Trafford should smooth Ronaldo's exit wherever the attacker goes next, with the respect between him and Ronaldo's agent Jorge Mendes unusually high.

Mendes: 'He's a genius'

"Jorge Mendes was amazing," Ferguson reflected in his 2013 autobiography of Ronaldo's €94m move to Real Madrid in 2009. "He didn't want Cristiano to leave [in 2008]. He felt that he wasn't ready. He put his financial interests aside as well as those of the player - all that money he could have won - for Cristiano's career, including that amazing 2008/2009 season."

Mendes, for his part, has been equally effusive about Ferguson.

"It's completely impossible to find someone like Sir Alex Ferguson," he told BBC Sport. "He's a God, he's a genius and to find a genius is very difficult."