Krishnan Sreekumar
Manchester United interim manager Ralf Rangick speaks out about the future of Cristiano Ronaldo after Chelsea clash
Speaking after his side’s 1-1 draw against Chelsea last night, as quoted by the club’s official website, Manchester United interim manager Ralf Rangnick opened up about the future of forward Cristiano Ronaldo at the club beyond the summer.
Ronaldo was once again the hero for United against Chelsea yesterday, scoring the equaliser in sublime fashion with a half-volley to help his side claw back from defeat and earn a point at home as they aim to end the season strongly.
When asked about the future of the Portugal skipper, Rangnick dodged the question and said that it was something that needs to be discussed between him, the board, and incoming new manager Erik ten Hag as Ronaldo still had another year on his contract left at Old Trafford.
“This is something that we should speak about between Erik and the board and myself. Cristiano has another year of contract. It is also important to find out what he wants, if he wants to stay.”
Ronaldo only moved to the Red Devils last summer, re-signing for the club that made him a global superstar and developed his early career. The 37-year-old would later depart Manchester in 2009, playing for Real Madrid and Juventus before returning at the start of the campaign.
“We very much rely on Cristiano”
With other strikers Edinson Cavani and Marcus Rashford injured and out of form respectively, much of the responsibility of scoring has fallen on the Portugal international’s shoulders. Mason Greenwood’s suspension and Anthony Martial’s loan spell at Sevilla have only increased the pressure on Ronaldo to deliver.
Rangnick admitted that his team was reliant on Ronaldo for his goals and that he put in a good performance against Chelsea, but also left the door open for the Manchester side to bring in a couple of new strikers in the summer and beef up the squad.
“Right now, we very much rely on Cristiano, he also showed a good performance when Chelsea were in possession. But there has to be a focus on bringing in a couple of new strikers for sure.”
Ronaldo has been a big reason why we made it to the knockout stages of the UEFA Champions League this term, with his last-gasp goals either scraping a draw for us or managing to secure all three points at the end.
Our league position in the Premier League is also thanks to the former Real Madrid man, single-handedly taking us past teams like Tottenham Hotspur and Norwich City with back-to-back hat-tricks at Old Trafford. Even when we were struggling against the Blues yesterday, it was ‘CR7’ who beautifully controlled Nemanja Matic’s pass to smash in the equalizer.
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There is no doubt that we are a better team with Ronaldo in it, but with United in danger of missing out on the UCL next term given their current league position, it remains to be seen whether the club legend decides to stick around for another campaign.
As Rangnick suggested, the English side should be looking for new strikers in the upcoming transfer window as they keep an eye out for a young replacement for their star forward. The decision to keep Ronaldo could also be dependent on ten Hag, who needs to see if the Portuguese can fit in with his style of play.
