Cristiano Ronaldo is now too old for modern football
Paul Macdonald
- Updated: 23 May 2023 08:46 CDT
- 11 min read
It’s called the passage of time, Cristiano. It happens to us all.
Ronaldo has to realise that the market dictates what a player is worth and, unfortunately for him, for the first time in 15 years, he is no longer able to decide what he wants to do with his career.
CR7 is 38 in February. He remains in incredible physical shape, putting others to shame. But things have changed; no matter how his six-pack looks, he can’t do the things he once did.
He has been able to adjust his game brilliantly and ensure longevity far longer than pretty much anyone of the modern era, beyond Zlatan Ibrahimovic - and even he has missed extended periods through serious injury.
Can Cristiano Ronaldo's "father in football" keep him at United? 🔴 👿https://t.co/kYHmY7j9Gp
— Football Transfers (@Transfersdotcom) July 26, 2022
It’s not just about the nature of the physique but about the other demands that football places on body parts; on knees, on hips, on ankles, joints that turn and swivel for 90 minutes 50 times a season. These get worn down and they can’t be replaced.
And as much as Ronaldo bailed out Manchester United on multiple occasions last season, his style of play is anachronistic to how teams want to set up; pressing high, closing down the player in possession, and having spells of intensity which require immense cardiovascular fitness. Ronaldo can’t, rather than won’t, do that, and that’s a problem.
Ronaldo is also specifying that he wants to play for a team competing for the Champions League. That’s great, and aspirational, but teams who compete for Champions Leagues dictate their terms, not the other way around.
His agent Jorge Mendes, who has secured him four huge moves in the past, doesn’t have a lot to work with. A client used to earning obscene sums (even if he would accept a pay cut) against the backdrop of wanting to work with a forward line and midfield that doesn’t put all the onus on him, like United did for most of last season.
There’s no market for these terms. A player who:
- Wants to be one of the highest paid at the club
- Is competing at the business end of the Champions League
- Doesn’t want to play, or be relied upon, in every game
- Is 38 this season
Premier League finishing: 2021/22
Cristiano Ronaldo: Human after all
One of the greatest players of this generation, of any generation, is beginning to realise that he is human and can’t go on forever, and so is his agent. Mendes is trying to manufacture a situation where Ronaldo is coveted and so United will let him go.
It’s a flip-reversal of last summer where Mendes was able to float interest from Manchester City in order to entice United into bidding for him. Now, such talk from Mendes is futile. He even travelled to Barcelona to offer his client’s services, only to be politely rebuked.
Ronaldo is now reassessing not only his career but also his mortality. He can’t play forever. He can’t pick his teams forever. He can’t keep earning this type of salary forever.
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And it can be hard to take, not only for him but for a generation of fans who have grown up with him. For Ronaldo to be close to the end simply means Lionel Messi is next, and the concept of a football world without Ronaldo or Messi is difficult for most fans to comprehend.
Ronaldo will play for years to come. He might end up in MLS, in the Middle East. He will play until his body won’t allow it. But it’s becoming increasingly clear that the days of Ronaldo being a top-level player are rapidly coming to an end.
