Why Ronaldo could be chased out of Man Utd by Rangnick
Robin Bairner
- 28 Feb 2022 14:13 CST
- 3 min read
Cristiano Ronaldo’s ongoing barren run of form continues to be a major discussion point around Manchester United.
As one of the greatest players in the history of the game, Ronaldo’s name is forever to the forefront of football transfer news, and particularly when he hits rare difficult patches in his career.
And the Portuguese is certainly in one of those flunks now, having scored just one goal in his last 10 matches. Indeed, it is his poorest run of form since he was last at Manchester United in 2009.
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Meanwhile, there is ongoing tension between the player and interim boss Ralf Rangnick, who is expected to move upstairs at Old Trafford in the summer into a supervisory role.
The Manchester Evening News reports that the problem is set to come to a head imminently.
Ronaldo in trouble
Indeed, it is suggested that Ronaldo’s poor form has only been tolerated to this point because Edinson Cavani has been injured and Marcus Rashford is in an even deeper hole.
Rangnick’s patience with the forward is “wearing thin”, while he has “doubts” over a player he was never sure could fit successfully into his plans.
It is a position, then, that suits no-one. Ronaldo cannot be happy working under a manager whose style is adverse to the one that the Portuguese wants to play, while Rangnick is being forced to shoehorn the forward into his squad due to a lack of alternative options.
Ronaldo commands a huge pay packet, which is the biggest in the Premier League, but he is not delivering upon it nor is there any sign of a return to form.
The impasse, of course, could be broken in the summer, but only if the new manager has a philosophy that is sufficiently different from Rangnick’s to get more from the striker. In itself, that appears unlikely, with the German likely to have a heavy influence on the next appointment.
For now, suggestions that Ronaldo could leave Man Utd are just noise, but doubts over his future are nonetheless increasing.
