"Fake news" - Fabrizio Romano provides fresh update on Cristiano Ronaldo's Manchester United future 

Transfer expert Fabrizio Romano has busted rumors surrounding Manchester United star Cristiano Ronaldo.

The Portuguese ace is currently looking for a new club and has been linked with quite a few top European sides.

Lately, though, his former club Sporting CP have also seemed to appear on the horizon for his signature. However, Romano has dismissed any possibility of Ronaldo returning to Lisbon.

In his column for Caught Offside, the Italian journalist wrote (via Football Espana):

“There is nothing going on with Sporting – this story was a fake news. The situation has remained essentially the same for the last 20 days: Cristiano wants to leave, Erik ten Hag waits to have a conversation with him to try to change his mind.”

The 37-year-old forward has been absent from United's pre-season tour citing family reasons so far and the club are now demanding clarification on when he will return.

Ten Hag is keen to retain him but Ronaldo isn't convinced with the club's ability to compete for trophies. He has also expressed dissatisfaction over their lack of transfer activities. Till now, Manchester United have signed left-back Tyrell Malacia, centre-back Lisandro Martinez and attacking midfielder Christian Eriksen.

Ronaldo made a sensational return to Old Trafford last summer. Despite him scoring 24 goals in 38 games across competitions, the Red Devils endured a catastrophic run on all fronts, even failing to qualify for the Champions League.

Bayern Munich, Napoli and Chelsea have been linked with the former Real Madrid star this summer, although rumors have now cooled off. Atletico Madrid are the latest club to be linked.

Romano further added that his agent, Jorge Mendes, is working behind the scenes to resolve the saga, although nothing concrete has come through yet.

He wrote:

“Manchester United are waiting for answers from Cristiano to understand when he can return to training, but Jorge Mendes keeps working on solutions: Atletico Madrid, Bayern Munich and Chelsea have been approached but there are no evolutions yet.”

A move to Los Rojiblancos may look far-fetched right now. Though the club would fancy having a star like Ronaldo in their ranks, Diego Simeone's side are already stacked with quality options in the vanguard.

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Manchester United continue pre-season without Ronaldo

The Red Devils have been preparing for the new season with a spate of friendlies.

Ten Hag's side have played four times, winning three; their winning run was ended by Aston Villa following a 2-2 draw.

With only fixtures against Atletico Madrid and Rayo Vallecano remaining, Manchester United will hope to wrap up their pre-season with a bang.