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Renowned journalist and sports commentator Ben Jacobs has claimed that Cristiano Ronaldo is willing to take a significant pay cut to move away from Manchester United this summer. Jacobs further added that the 37-year-old was interested in joining Diego Simeone’s Atletico Madrid, although Los Rojiblancos have turned down the move.
Cristiano Ronaldo left Juventus to rejoin Manchester United last summer, 12 years after initially leaving the English giants for Real Madrid. The five-time Ballon d’Or winner scored 18 Premier League goals in 30 appearances, emerging as the division's third-highest scorer behind Mohamed Salah and Heung-min Son (both 23).
Despite his heroics, United finished outside the top four, thus becoming ineligible for Champions League football in the 2022-23 season.
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Being on the brink of missing out on Champions League football for the first time in 20 years, Cristiano Ronaldo is supposedly willing to take drastic measures to move away from United.
Shedding light on the Ronaldo saga, Ben Jacobs tweeted that the 37-year-old is willing to take a pay cut as high as 30 per cent. He said:
“Jorge Mendes is making it clear to clubs put off by his wages that Cristiano Ronaldo is willing to take a significant pay cut, potentially as high as 30 percent. Ronaldo remains interested in an Atleti move. But club continue to distance themselves, as previously reported.”
Jacobs claimed that Atletico are still not interested in landing the Portuguese icon despite him wanting the move. They consider signing Cristiano Ronaldo as “problematic” while Real Madrid, too, have not shown any interest in re-signing him.
“Atleti sources reiterate that the club are simply not in a financial position to move. Atleti have termed signing Ronaldo “problematic”. A Real return is also not an option. There is no appetite for it on Real’s side.”
Erik ten Hag’s Manchester United haven’t missed Cristiano Ronaldo yet
Due to family/personal reasons, Ronaldo is yet to train under new Manchester United coach Erik ten Hag and has missed their pre-season tour of Thailand and Australia. However, that has not yet stopped the Red Devils from putting up impressive results on the board in pre-season fixtures.
Manchester United have been in scorching form in friendly fixtures this summer. They first beat Liverpool 4-0 before hammering Melbourne Victory by a 4-1 margin. United then secured a comfortable 3-1 win over Crystal Palace despite being a man down.
So far, Ten Hag’s United have shown impressive cohesion, something that has been missing for a long time at United. It would be interesting to see how this team fares if Cristiano Ronaldo ends up staying put for the 2022-23 season.
