"It's a tough one for him" - Wayne Rooney sends message to Cristiano Ronaldo amid Manchester United exit rumors

Former Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney has encouraged his former teammate Cristiano Ronaldo to remain patient after a disappointing start to the new season.

The DC United manager believes that the five-time Ballon d'Or winner will find his goal-scoring instincts again. Rooney believes that age is catching up to Ronaldo as he is unable to keep pace with manager Erik ten Hag's style of play. He said (via the Manchester Evening News):

"Cristiano... him and [Lionel] Messi are two of the greatest players to ever play the game, but ultimately time catches up with us all. He's obviously not the player he was when he was 22 or 23, for instance. It's a tough one for him.''

"Knowing him, it'll be very difficult for him to sit on the bench. I'm sure if he stays patient, his chance will come and, again, it's then obviously him taking those chances and trying to force his way back in."

After scoring 24 goals across different tournaments for the Red Devils in the 2021-22 season, Cristiano Ronaldo was expected to have another good season under Ten Hag.

However, the Portuguese missed the pre-season tour, giving Marcus Rashford and Antony Martial time to adapt to the former Ajax manager's system. The Portuguese striker has only started one Premier League match this season.

The former Real Madrid striker has only scored one goal for the Red Devils this season. This came from the penalty spot in the Europa League against FC Sheriff on September 15.

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Cristiano Ronaldo to intensify his efforts to leave Manchester United after FIFA World Cup in Qatar - Report

As per Mirror Football, Cristiano Ronaldo will step up his efforts to leave Manchester United after the FIFA World Cup in Qatar. After being benched for each of United's last five Premier League matches, Ronaldo is rumored to be unhappy with the tactics of Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag.

The Portuguese is also rumored to have expressed his disapproval of the training practices introduced by the Dutch boss and wants to leave the club in the winter window.

The report also confirms that Bayern Munich held discussions about signing the Portuguese legend this summer before the move was called off for undisclosed reasons.