What’s the rumour?
Jose Mourinho asked Manchester United board not to make a move for Cristiano Ronaldo this summer according to reports in the Sunday Mirror. The manager was not keen on getting the Portuguese when he decided to quit Real Madrid.
The manager reportedly felt that paying £90 million for the forward who turned 33 this year was not needed. Moreover, paying £500,000 a week as wages was also something Jose was not keen on doing.
In case you didn’t know...
After 9 seasons at Real Madrid, Cristiano Ronaldo decided to leave the club earlier this summer. The forward joined Juventus for a whopping €112 million and signed a 4-year contract.
The 33-year-old has made his Serie A debut and played in three games so far. However, he is yet to score for the Old Lady in the league despite taking 23 shots in the three games combined.
The heart of the matter
Sunday Mirror claims that Mourinho wanted the club to spend the transfer budget on getting defensive reinforcements this summer. That was the main reason why he opted not to sign Ronaldo and asked the board to not make a move for him.
The report claims that Mourinho wanted Toby Alderweireld or Harry Maguire signed in the summer but the board failed to get them. A deadline day move for Diego Godin is also mentioned by Sunday Mirror but that too ended abruptly after the centre-back decided not to leave Atletico Madrid.
Rumour probability: 7/10
Rumours of Ronaldo moving back to United have been going around for years now. But with him actually moving this summer, it might actually be true that he wanted a return too.
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What’s next?
Juventus might well and truly be the last top-flight club where Ronaldo plays. Unless his quality declines drastically, he can continue playing until he is 40 and also try his hand in Major League Soccer, Chinese Super League and also Indian Super League.