Could Ronaldo realistically retire here?

[Red Shorts]

At the age of 37, at this stage of the season Ronaldo is the 3rd in the most minutes played of our outfield players, nearly 2nd by 45 minutes behind Maguire.

During the middle of the season, it was questionable about whether he has the legs left after Ole left, whether Rangnick's ideology about pressing from all fronts would fit both his age as well as his long term energy.

Since Ralf's appointment, it's hard to argue against the fact he hasn't been one of the few that has applied that notion; he has given far more in terms of intensity than he did under Ole, and more recently he has given more to pressing opposition players than many of those that are 10+ years younger than him. People forget easily this guy is hungrier in general than over 99% of proffesional footballers and will go beyond his limits.

This will keep taking a toll on his body, and although he is fitter than pretty much any normal person in their 20s, football in the PL is demanding. He cant be the person we wish to be our main focal point in this supposed "evolution", but at the same time it's harder for him to now move to a big European club due to his wages and age whilst being the main man.

The question is: can he play for another 2/3 years here, slowly slipping into a more "support" striker role whilst we hope to rebuild? By then he's 40 and hit the time that 40+ full games is definitely not achievable up front at the top level, but at the same time can help be part of the (extremely hopeful) rebuild of this club. For reference, Zlatan is 40 now, and still having a great impact but at a very reduced rate of appearances to what he is used to. May be in a weaker league but considering AC has been such underdogs to Inter and Juve for so long it's an interesting notion.

 

[choccy77]

United would be crazy to not want Ronaldo in the club around the youth players.

It's a huge gift the club has.

Ronaldo tonight was running back more than he has all season.

Why that is, who knows, but he is an assist and we would be fighting relegation probably, without his goals.

If the team was better, he would be challenging for golden boot.

I hope The Club, Hag and Ronaldo see the positives in staying next season.

 

[OleGunnar20]

United would be crazy to not want Ronaldo in the club around the youth players.

It's a huge gift the club has.

Ronaldo tonight was running back more than he has all season.

Why that is, who knows, but he is an assist and we would be fighting relegation probably, without his goals.

If the team was better, he would be challenging for golden boot.

I hope The Club, Hag and Ronaldo see the positives in staying next season.

Agreed. I think what we really need to do next year is pick up whoever we see as the most exciting young striker available to us and bring them in as a proper understudy. Sell it to them as a year to work directly with CR and aim to transition them into the team over the year.

 

[oneloop31]

I hope Ronaldo moves on next season. Considering that we will be playing in the europa league. The GOAT playing in the Europa league is a disgrace.

 

[el3mel]

He can play for 2 or 3 more years only if his minutes are managed and he doesn't play every single game or start every game no matter what.

I'm honestly surprised by how much he improved as the season approaching its end. Midway in the season he looked finished as a player but he has been literally carrying the team on his back by his goals these last few weeks. He can still do a job no doubt about it. Just not 90 minutes every single game.

 

[sullydnl]

Nah. I think he'll want to keep playing regularly long past the point he should be playing regularly for us.

If you look at the strikers we've been linked with this summer even, the likes of Nunez would be expecting to be in our first choice eleven, not play second fiddle to Ronaldo. Managing Ronaldo's gametime is an immediate issue for the new manager, let alone in a few years time.

 

[AFC NimbleThumb]

I could see it for a number of reasons. He’s had issues at home which put all he’s done on the field into perspective.

He’s so driven in pursuit of his goal for goals but he’s not going to be playing for the elites anymore & this club is a joke. He’s got more money than he needs so it’s honestly a question of what he can aim for anymore. For a man that was pretty much turning up to Champions League Finals at will, aimlessly chasing loose balls for United can’t be how he wants to finish his career.

 

[SportingCP96]

Considering he won’t retire until at least 42 I reckon his last year will be him finishing at Sporting as is his mothers wish as well.

 

[lefty_jakobz]

Hopefully he stay at least 2 more years. Really want him to lift a trophy here, he deserves it.

 

[BaneIsPain]

I think he has what it takes to play regularly for the next 2 to 3 years.
His enthusiasm never wavered on the pitch.
Hopefully with a better team next year he will win the golden boot.

 

[LDUred]

He is currently the joint second highest scorer in the EPL, aged 37, playing for a United side that is so bad it's a laughing stock.

As far as playing for the club is concerned, Cristiano Ronaldo can play for MUFC as long as he wants and in whatever capacity he likes. This is like a Ryan Giggs or Paul Scholes situation or even a Robbo situation: as long as you can get your boots on, you can play.

It's more a case of managing him and Ronaldo eventually accepting that he will need to be rested and rotated like Giggs and Scholes were. But he has basically kept this club going over the last few weeks through sheer bloody-mindedness and his ability to thrive on adversity. We need his attitude to set an example to any new players we bring in, as well as the goals.

 

[King29]

Unlikely in my opinion. Don't think he's ready to accept a rotation role for another couple of years. And I think with ETH coming in and his style of play he will have to be rotated more often. I can see him going to Sporting to retire or maybe MLS

 

[Harry190]

He will stay, for Ronaldo Junior. It's written in the stars, Junior has to play for United in 3-4 years.

Long enough for him to get subbed in in place of his dad.

 

[jackal&hyde]

I don't know but I hope he stays for at least another season. Not only is he still very good, he is a model professional that we desperately need, especially if we rebuild with a lot of youth/ inexperienced players.

 

[Red the Bear]

We need to manage his minutes as everyone has already said, and he can actually still cut it out against the best level of defense as well ( scored a incorrectly ruled offside goal against pool and now against chelsea), that would be actually pretty manageable if he chooses to stick around, considering that he might play in europa or conference for gods sake.

We definitely need an energetic, bulldog type of striker next to him to bear the running off and pressing duties, the fact that he had to come back and play mostly as a rightback while Rashford did feck all was disgraceful.

 

[RedRonaldo]

Our team would need at least another 2-3 years to rebuild, it would be unfair to ask him stay with us for the remaining of his career without competing for trophies.

 

[fergiewherearethou]

I would love to see him retire here, he is one of our best players.

 

[Red Shorts]

Our team would need at least another 2-3 years to rebuild, it would be unfair to ask him stay with us for the remaining of his career without competing for trophies.

It would be of course, and it's not what he would have wanted to be joining a team this season that is in such a disarray to end his career being in project restart.

Reality is he will likely demand a high salary still if he moved this season (don't forget he's PL's 2nd top scorer in what is the worst attacking team in the top 10 ahead of £150m Kane), and no top club will want to pay that salary. He has the legs to play next season, so it takes him to 38 and the gradual decline in long term fitness could catch up with him. If, and its a big IF, ETH can show some form of upturn in this squad, it would be nice to encourage Ronaldo for a swansong at 39/40 and retire here.

That, or as a poster alluded to earlier, retiring at Sporting could be on the cards too.

 

[Trex]

The second top scorer in the league, I'm beginning to think maybe what we need is a less known center forward as an understudy, because to get 17 goals and counting in this shit team suggest there isn't anyone who I'll guarantee can do more. He also does it in big games about 8 came against arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham.
He'll be top scorer playing in city by a distance.

 

[Tarrou]

I think he'll take a step down a level before he retires

maybe MLS and then back to Portugal and smash in another 100 goals or so in the process

the trouble with him retiring here is he probably won't have the legs for it, and we're hiring a manager he likes to press from the front

 

[DevilRed]

We’ve done him dirty this season. The man shouldn’t be carrying teams at 37. I hope ETH is able to speed up the rebuilding and get us playing like a team next season.

Contrary to all the negativity, we still have some excellent players at this club. Just that none of them play Centre mid.

 

[Red Shorts]

I think he'll take a step down a level before he retires

maybe MLS and then back to Portugal and smash in another 100 goals or so in the process

the trouble with him retiring here is he probably won't have the legs for it, and we're hiring a manager he likes to press from the front

But we shouldnt expect him to start every game like he has this season, in 2 years' time. Ibra is by no means a starter in AC but is just as fit an athlete and still scoring for fun. Easier league, sure, but these two are of elite conditioning and valuable for their respective clubs.

Ronaldo is the oldest by some distance in that team yet the past 10 or so games at the end of the season presses harder than all our forwards, bar arguably Elanga. Yet being literally half his age that shouldnt be surprising

 

[Regulus Arcturus Black]

Ronaldo tonight was running back more than he has all season.

Why that is, who knows,

My guess, he wants to stay and wants to show ETH how much he can offer in any system.

 

[RedRonaldo]

It would be of course, and it's not what he would have wanted to be joining a team this season that is in such a disarray to end his career being in project restart.

Reality is he will likely demand a high salary still if he moved this season (don't forget he's PL's 2nd top scorer in what is the worst attacking team in the top 10 ahead of £150m Kane), and no top club will want to pay that salary. He has the legs to play next season, so it takes him to 38 and the gradual decline in long term fitness could catch up with him. If, and its a big IF, ETH can show some form of upturn in this squad, it would be nice to encourage Ronaldo for a swansong at 39/40 and retire here.

That, or as a poster alluded to earlier, retiring at Sporting could be on the cards too.

There is report Bayern want him to replace Lewandowski this summer. He may still want to win CL for one last time so this may appeals to him, even if that means he has to take pay cut to join them. To be honest I don’t think extra 200k weekly wage would matter to him, as he earns more than 1m per sponsored post on Instagram alone anyway (around 30-40m per year), and he is already the wealthiest footballer ever. Money shouldn’t be his main concern, he may just want to spend the last few years of his career on high note instead.

 

[Xanther]

Entire nations should study this guy. Impeccable attention and work ethic to his body, powerful state of mind. Can you imagine PE lessons at school if they were about case studies like him? How does a 37-year old move like that? He could replace Lewa at Bayern and I wouldn't even be mad. I'd love to see it, but I'd be sad to see him leaving for the second time. What he does is an example for all of us. I can honestly say his never-say-die attitude has rubbed off on me in some ways.

Viva Ronaldo

 

[haru krentz]

With all due respect to Harry who crumbles against pressure on and off the pitch, Cristiano should be our captain next season.

 

[Cypriot]

He will stay, for Ronaldo Junior. It's written in the stars, Junior has to play for United in 3-4 years.

Long enough for him to get subbed in in place of his dad.

He's 11

 

[Classical Mechanic]

My guess, he wants to stay and wants to show ETH how much he can offer in any system.

He was probably still clinging to the hope that we can get top 4. I don't see how 37 years old Ronaldo can run hard all season. Hopefully we can use him more sparingly next season to keep him fresh. Roll him out for the right games. It looks like he'll stay if you ask me.

As for retiring, perhaps he'll go back to Sporting in a couple of years.

 

[NoPace]

I think he'll go to MLS after next season, but not sure if he'll stay another year. I hope he stays for one last one.

We can buy a younger 9 and bed him in slowly his first season (David, Shick, Nunes, etc...) rather than expecting him to score 20+ his first season, unless Ten Hag surprisingly falls in love with Rashford, though stranger things have happened than a 24 year old picking back up under a new manager.

And I don't think Ronaldo is any worse a presser than Haller and he's done well for ETH. If we create chances he'll score goals, as he has 17 in 25 starts and 3 sub appearances in the Prem and we routinely fail to create more than 2-3 good chances a game.

 

[Oldyella]

Ronaldo has always timed his training to be at his peak for this time of the season hasn't he? Just normally we notice it more as he's performing in late stages of cup runs or big league games...

Hopefully he stays, but we definitely need a new forward to both lighten his load and also start working to the future.

 

[romufc]

When a player is scoring you 20+ goals and the next best is half that, surely as a team you would do the work for him, knowing he will do his job.

If in smaller games like Norwhich at home, we can get 9 players to press and Ronaldo to position himself as a half press, we can still dominate those games.

In bigger games, CL and the like, I have seen Ronaldo press more, so its not an issue of can he do it? Its a issue of can he sustain it? at his age, he cant sustain pressing football for 40 games a season.

I mean look at 24 year Rashford who cannot press for 10 minutes a season.

I fully functioning team around him, Ronaldo scores 30 goals.

 

[mctrials23]

I still hope he goes at the end of the season. Do we want to build for the future and give ourselves the best chance of competing with Liverpool and City in a few years time? If the answer is yes then I want ETH to be able to play the way he wants as quickly as he can. Perhaps ETH thinks that Ronaldo will be good for his plans and if so, thats fine but I doubt it.

I think some of you are making the mistake of thinking that just because Ronaldo is the only one putting in goals in an utterly abject team that doesn't seem to give 2 shits anymore that he wasn't part of the problem in the first place and that in a team that is trying to play in a certain way, he won't be holding us back again.

Hes on too much money to be a bit part player and you can't expect a new manager with what should be a lot of new players to essentially coach one style of play for without Ronaldo and another for when he plays.

I want a clean start next season without any baggage. Without any players who don't fit the plan. If McTominay doesn't fit the plan he will be benched. If Ronaldo is here and he doesn't fit the plan he won't be able to be benched.

 

[2 man midfield]

I don’t think he will. I’d like him to win one last trophy with us though and go out on a high, as this season is not gonna be fondly remembered.

 

[ForeverRed1]

Keep him and buy a striker to learn from him.

 

[shamans]

Nah. I think he'll want to keep playing regularly long past the point he should be playing regularly for us.

If you look at the strikers we've been linked with this summer even, the likes of Nunez would be expecting to be in our first choice eleven, not play second fiddle to Ronaldo. Managing Ronaldo's gametime is an immediate issue for the new manager, let alone in a few years time.

Ronaldo is smart enough to know for his body's sake he has to take a secondary role sooner rather than later anywhere.

 

[Gehrman]

Will be interesting to see if he stays. He lives for the CL. If we dont make that I think he'd want out. I can only see PSG take him if Mpabbe goes, but then they are still stuck with Messi on huge wages unless he retires from European football after the world Cup.

 

[Luke1995]

I think it's too soon to guess.

He'll probably stay for another season but we need to see how it goes before assessing that possibility.

 

[bosnian_red]

I think he'd want to retire with Sporting and return there eventually. But i don't think he plans on retiring anytime soon

 

[Chairman Steve]

I wouldnt blame him if he left this summer but I’d like him a bit more if he stayed.