Sporting chance: Is Lisbon Ronaldo's most likely January destination?

FT Desk

• Updated: 23 May 2023 08:55 CDT
• 3 min read

Cristiano Ronaldo's Manchester United career will almost certainly draw to a close in January, but where will he end up?

Ronaldo and Man Utd will almost certainly part ways in the winter transfer window, with the Portuguese now surplus to requirements under Erik ten Hag at Old Trafford.

The record-breaking attacker had returned from Juventus amid much fanfare in a €17 million deal last summer, and top scored for the club with 18 Premier League goals and a further six in the Champions League.

READ: Cristiano Ronaldo rejection coming back to haunt Chelsea

But he has been relegated to a bit-part role since Ten Hag replaced Ralf Rangnick as manager, with Marcus Rashford getting the nod to lead the line more often than not.

Ronaldo has been variously linked with most of world football since his fall-outs with the Dutch tactician grew ever more public, with Atletico Madrid, Inter Miami and a blockbuster bid from Saudi Arabia three of the most recently mooted destinations.

But Sky now claim that a return to his first club, Sporting Lisbon, is on the horizon.

"Within the club they expect him to leave in the winter," reports Sky Germany's Florian Plettenberg. Bosses want to strengthen, and Ten Hag wants to ensure tranquillity.

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

"The search for successors is already underway ([Eric Maxim] Choupo-Moting and others). A return to Sporting Lisbon should be an option."

Sporting chance

Ronaldo was handed his senior professional debut by Sporting back in 2002, and famously ran John O'Shea ragged in a pre-season friendly a year later before Sir Alex Ferguson insisted on his signing.

But could Sporting take their former star back? When CaughtOffside posted on Twitter that a deal with Sporting was "99% done" in August, the notion was soon shot down by Sportsmail.

"There are genuine questions over whether Ruben Amorim's side can finance Ronaldo's lofty wages," they wrote. "And a United source has confirmed the move is unlikely to happen."

Ronaldo is currently on £26.8m (€30.7m) at United, while Sporting's highest-paid player is Francisco Trincao, who is earning €3.9m a year during his season-long loan from Barcelona.