05.05.2022 » Where will Ronaldo play next season?
As the Premier League season draws to a close, the patchy form of Manchester United under caretaker manager Ralf Rangnick is all but ensuring that they won't be involved in the 2022/23 Champions League. Given that this is a tournament that Cristiano Ronaldo has shone in across two decades of action, there is cause to question whether new United coach Erik ten Hag will be able to call on the star to play out the second year of his contract in England. The question on everyone's lips, then, from the faithful in the Stretford End to the best online gambling sites, is whether Ronaldo will turn his attentions elsewhere, to play for a club with a chance of giving him a shot at winning the biggest trophy in club football for a sixth time. The speculation centers around a few clubs with obvious attractions for CR7 - could one of these be the team he calls home next season?
Cristiano Ronaldo - Under pressure:
Real Madrid
Ronaldo left Old Trafford for the Bernabeu once, in 2009 - could he do it again thirteen years later? There's a logic to the idea - Real are believed to have been the side he supported as a child, and it's definitely where he has had the greatest success in his career. One fly in the ointment is that current Merengues coach Zinedine Zidane was the man at the helm when Ronaldo was allowed to leave for Juventus, and the remarkable form of striker Karim Benzema is credited to his no longer playing in the shadow of Ronaldo. It would be a poignant, but controversial, move for the Portuguese to return.
Sporting Lisbon
It was at Lisbon that the legend was born; when Manchester United played an exhibition match at the Estadio Jose Alvalade, a 17-year-old Ronaldo put in such an incredible performance that the opposition players clamored for then manager Alex Ferguson to buy him. Ferguson duly obliged. Ronaldo only played 31 senior games for Sporting, and may feel like he wishes to give them a little more. The issue with this eventuality is that, CR7 or no CR7, it's hard to see the Primeira Liga side lifting the cup he loves so much.
PSG
There is, at least, likely to be a vacancy for Ronaldo in Paris when the new season kicks off. Kylian Mbappe has played in Ligue 1 for long enough and never got particularly close to winning the trophy that really matters. He's more or less a certainty to arrive in Madrid at some point this summer, leaving room for a prolific goalscorer with a welcoming bank account. The cash-saturated Qatar Sporting Group that owns PSG would certainly be willing to augment Ronaldo's earnings, and pair him with longtime rival Leo Messi. The question remains, though: are Paris St Germain a side you join if you want to win the top trophy?
Staying put?
It may well be that Ronaldo looks at the options available - and potentially unavailable - to him, and concludes that his next chapter will be about trying to launch a long-awaited Manchester United resurgence under ten Hag. That might yet be the decision that makes the most sense.
Cristiano Ronaldo next game for Manchester United is on May 7, against Brighton Hove Albion. You can watch Brighton vs Manchester United, Inter vs Empoli, Marseille vs Feyenoord, Eintracht vs West Ham, AS Roma vs Leicester City, and Rangers vs RB Leipzig, all matches provided from our live football game pages.
Manchester United next game:
Brighton vs Manchester United kick-off time (07-05-2022):
Beijing (China) | UTC/GMT+8: 00:30
Jakarta (Indonesia) | UTC/GMT+7: 23:30
India (New Delhi) | UTC/GMT+5.30: 22:00
Italy (Turin) | UTC/GMT+2: 18:30
Spain (Madrid) | UTC/GMT+2: 18:30
Portugal and England (Lisbon/London) | UTC/GMT+1: 17:30
Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) | UTC/GMT-3: 13:30
New York (United States) | UTC/GMT-4: 12:30
Los Angeles (United States) | UTC/GMT-7: 09:30
Sources: ronaldo7.net / si.com / as.com
