Cristiano Ronaldo splurges £15,000 on hi-tech equipment to maintain fitness levels at Manchester United: Reports

According to a source close to the player, Manchester United’s Cristiano Ronaldo has bought a £15,000 oxygen chamber for his Cheshire home in a bid to maintain his fitness.

The now 36-year-old superstar has shown little sign of slowing down and has 14 goals and three assists in 20 appearances across all competitions this season. He was the biggest reason why Manchester United finished as group winners in the Champions League and has also been scoring regularly in recent domestic fixtures.

Cristiano Ronaldo’s return has also helped other Manchester United players off the field. Eric Bailly recently revealed that none of the players at the club have been eating dessert in order to emulate the 5-time Ballon d’Or winner and his commitment.

Now, for the first time, the Portuguese has decided to buy his own oxygen chamber and have it installed at his house. The source close to Ronaldo revealed the following:

Everyone knows Cristiano is a fitness fanatic and totally dedicated to being in the best shape he can be. He’s used oxygen chambers before in his career but they are not as easy to find in the UK so he decided to buy one and have it installed at his house. It means if he ever feels a twinge he can go and use it and get the benefits. These are the reasons why he misses so few games due to injury.

Cristiano Ronaldo will be hoping for major change of fortunes at Manchester United

Despite Cristiano Ronaldo's individual heroics, Manchester United are far from the position they would have ideally liked at the start of the season. A squad that finished second in the league last season under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer received reinforcements in the form of Raphael Varane, Jadon Sancho and Cristiano Ronaldo.

However, consistent poor performances led to the Norwegian being sacked. His replacement Ralf Rangnick has brought in immediate improvement, but several players have grossly underperformed in recent matches as well. Manchester United have struggled to get going offensively and have looked shaky defensively as well.

The 3-1 victory against Burnley was Manchester United’s best performance in a long while. The team pressed high up the pitch and knew when to stay compact. While pressing high up the pitch is a positive, doing so against teams capable of playing through pressure will require United to achieve the right balance between compactness and aggression.

Of course, Rangnick knows very well that the project he has undertaken is a long-term one. He has currently only been given a six-month managerial contract which can be expected to be extended if the team is able to save the season. A decent run in the Champions League along with a top-4 finish should be enough for that. Anything more will be a bonus for Manchester United.