Tony Cascarino insists legendary Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson would get rid of Cristiano Ronaldo under the current circumstances.
Ronaldo is widely believed to be pushing to leave Old Trafford this summer in pursuit of Champions League football, but the Red Devils are unwilling to sell and no suitable club seem interested.
After a summer dominated by speculation over Ronaldo’s future, new manager Erik ten Hag could put the 37-year-old in his starting XI for their Premier League opener against Brighton on Sunday, with Anthony Martial injured.
But former Republic of Ireland international Cascarino insists Sir Alex would have shown Ronaldo the door at this stage.
The Weekend Sports Breakfast host said on talkSPORT: “How would Sir Alex deal with the Ronaldo of today, if he had him in his side as manager?
“I think he would have gotten rid of him. He got rid of great players: Ruud van Nistelrooy, Roy Keane…
“OK, those were different scenarios, but he got rid of it because if he felt it would come at a cost to the football club, that was where he wouldn’t go.
“I’m not a fan of keeping players who don’t want to be near the football club – and I’m not sure United fans would be happy with what happened at the club this summer.”
Ten Hag was forced to answer many questions about Ronaldo on Friday after the Portuguese sensation left a pre-season friendly against Rayo Vallecana before the game was over.
And United legend Gary Neville believes Ronaldo has put his manager in an unfair position.
“I’m a bit disappointed with him because he lets the manager have these press conferences,” Neville said of his former teammate on Friday night.
“He’s a good age, he was one of the best players in the world. Couldn’t he do this interview?
“Sunday we are going to ask him after the game, could he not come and talk to us instead of asking others to say him?”
Neville added: “I think we all know that if a Champions League club comes to him they will go. But at the moment that hasn’t happened. It’s a bit unpleasant.
“It’s a mess for him, it’s a mess for the club. We want him to stay, we don’t want these sagas to drag on. As United fans, we don’t want this to go on. another three weeks.
“I think it’s definitely a tougher job than it already was for Ten Hag, with Ronaldo’s situation and the [Frenkie] Jong’s situation. Whether [Ronaldo] is fit, he starts.
🗣️ ‘I’m a little disappointed with him. Would it be too much to ask him to make things clear?
Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher on Cristiano Ronaldo’s future at Man United. pic.twitter.com/DZzLo9kdDK
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) August 5, 2022
However, fellow Red Devils icon Roy Keane believes Ten Hag can turn the tide in his favor.
Keane said: “We don’t know Ronaldo’s behavior like now when it comes to his return to the building.”
“He’s missing the pre-season for family issues, if so, so be it.” If he knocked down tools, then this is unacceptable.
“But I don’t think it’s as bad as everyone makes it out to be. At the end of the day, when you’re a manager, you don’t look for trouble, trouble comes your way. So it happened to the manager, it’s in front of him. He has to take care of it.
“But I think he can put a marker on it, let’s say it’s Ronaldo in the next week or two and if he’s got takers and the deal works out for United you might want to get some money back. money. But if you go to Lisbon, then here we go.
“Then the other players are like, ‘OK, in the short term we’ll miss him, but overall we’re trying to rebuild’.
“Man United are really not going to compete for league titles for two or three years.”
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