Udinese have responded to their goalkeeper Marco Silvestri asking Manchester United striker Cristiano Ronaldo to join the Serie A club in the near future. The Portugal icon recently gave an interview where he expressed his ambitions with his national team.
He said (h/t Mirror):
"My ambition is great. I want to be present at the World Cup and European Championships. I feel very motivated. My journey is not finished yet."
An excerpt of the interview was posted by broadcaster DAZN on Twitter. Silvestri, who joined Udinese from Hellas Verona in the summer of 2021, replied to the post asking the five-time Ballon d'Or winner to join his team. He commented:
"@cristiano come to @udinesecalcio"
Udinese posted a Tweet on their club's official Twitter account mentioning Silvestri's comment and captioned it with an eye emoji. Their post can be seen below:
Ronaldo's desire to leave Manchester United in the recently-concluded transfer window is well documented (via The Times). The Portugal ace wanted to play for a team participating in the UEFA Champions League and Jorge Mendes actively tried to make that move happen.
However, no deal materialized and the forward stayed at Old Trafford to make his UEFA Europa League debut. He did so in a 1-0 loss against Real Sociedad on September 8.
Udinese are not participating in any European club competitions this season and hence, it is hard to see the Portugal icon wanting to join them. They are, however, third in the Serie A table, just one point behind leaders Napoli.
The five-time Ballon d'Or winner's current contract with United expires in the summer of 2023 with the option of being extended by another year.
It remains to be seen if United's No. 7 will push to leave the Red Devils once again when the January transfer window opens next year.
Manchester City star picks Cristiano Ronaldo as ideal teammate over Lionel Messi
Manchester City midfielder Kevin de Bruyne has stated that he would want Cristiano Ronaldo to be his teammate over Paris Saint-Germain's (PSG) Lionel Messi.
The Belgium international was asked who he would rather play with between the the two superstars, to which he responded (h/t SportBible):
"I would probably say Ronaldo because he’s more of a typical striker. Messi is still more of a playmaker. I am a playmaker, you can give me a striker."
The former Chelsea midfielder has never shared the pitch with either Ronaldo or Messi in his career. De Bruyne's comments, however, show that despite the age of 37, he is still rated highly by his peers.
Ronaldo has started the 2022-23 season in poor fashion, scoring just one goal in eight matches across all competitions. He netted 24 times in 38 matches for the Red Devils last campaign, becoming their top scorer.