Manchester United stars expect Cristiano Ronaldo to push for transfer in January transfer window: Reports

Manchester United players reportedly believe that Cristiano Ronaldo will push for an exit once again in the January transfer window after failing to engineer a move this summer.

The Portugal icon made it clear in June that he wanted to leave Old Trafford after the club failed to qualify for the UEFA Champions League. However, he ended up staying put after several clubs turned down the chance to sign him.

The 37-year-old showed no signs of slowing down after scoring 24 goals in 38 games across all competitions last season. Nevertheless, his massive salary package would understandably make clubs averse to offering him a contract.

This isn't expected to stop the former Real Madrid superstar from trying to leave the club once again before his contract expires next summer.

According to a source quoted by the Sun (h/t Daily Mail), the Red Devils stars were unhappy with the player missing pre-season training under manager Erik ten Hag:

"All the players loved it when Ronaldo came back to United last season but they are frustrated he missed pre-season. The manager put a lot of work into giving the squad detailed information about what he wanted them to do and how he wanted them to play."

The source continued:

"Ronaldo is not up to speed with that and is relying on instinct when he plays. But that doesn't work in Ten Hag’s system. He often demands the ball too early in build-up play and drops deep for the ball, but that means when the ball is wide there is no-one in the middle to hit it into."

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Manchester United star Cristiano Ronaldo no longer a key player in the starting XI

Cristiano Ronaldo is struggling to get into Manchester United's starting XI on a regular basis - a problem that he hasn't encountered since his debut Premier League season.

Ronaldo has been benched in five out of Manchester United's six league matches this campaign. His only start came in United's 4-0 loss against Brentford. The aforementioned Manchester United source added that Ronaldo can expect similar treatment going forward, and said:

"Ronaldo is likely to find himself on the bench again going forward. And he is going to have to get used to scoring a lot less goals because he is only being introduced towards the end of games when Ten Hag has already made changes which make United less attacking.”

Ronaldo's other start this season came in the UEFA Europa League clash against Real Sociedad in his team's 0-1 loss on Thursday, September 8. This was the former Juventus star's debut match in UEFA's secondary club competition - a moment he desperately wanted to avoid by trying to leave United this summer.

He still has a chance to play in the Champions League this season if his agent, Jorde Mendes, can find him a new club in January.