Ronaldo won’t even travel with United for the pre-season tour. Is this good for the club itself and what are the possible alternatives?

Cristiano Ronaldo did not join the team on Friday as Manchester United prepare for a pre-season tour of Thailand and Australia. He had already apologised to the club’s management a few days ago, saying he could not take part in the initial training sessions due to family reasons. Whether the reluctance to continue is behind this is still an unresolved matter.

It is therefore not surprising that the English media immediately started speculating that the Portuguese cannonballer wants to leave Manchester United due to the poor performance of the whole team. The fact that if he stays at Old Trafford, he will not play in the Champions League in the upcoming season could certainly play a part in this.

Moreover, Sky Sports has come up with the information that it will not only be the start of pre-season training, but that Ronaldo will not join the team for any pre-season matches. And of course, that could already be a big problem for Erik ten Hag with a key figure at the tip of the attack dropping out.

Even the club itself hasn’t made a clear stance on the whole situation, suggesting that Ronaldo is indeed on his way out and it’s only a matter of time before Jorge Mendes finds a suitable alternative for him.

However, according to James Robson, Goal’s Manchester United specialist, the club insist that he is not for sale and expect him to honour the remaining year of his contract. With the management failing to lure either of the pair of promising strikers Darwin Nunez and Erling Haaland, it will not be easy to find a replacement quickly for the team’s top scorer last season.

In addition, Anthony Martial, who along with Ronaldo is the only pure spearhead striker, was supposed to leave this summer, although he has played more as a winger in recent years. With the departure of one of the best strikers of all time, he could thus get a second chance and try to finally fulfil the potential he came to Old Trafford with.

Will Manchester United be better with or without Ronaldo?

Jamie Carragher put it very succinctly. He scored goals, but he made the team worse.”

Ronaldo is a guarantee of goals without a doubt, it’s just that Hag needs to build a new team that will only get better in the years to come. And Ronaldo can’t be counted on for that, given his age.

Real Madrid were very aware of this, they took a step back to take two steps forward and their example shows that it was the right one! Manchester United are in a similar position now, where Ronaldo in the coming months would only delay a problem that has been noticeable at Old Trafford for a very long time – a promising cannonballer.

Who could the Red Devils bring in?

Robert Lewandowski, who has been linked with Barcelona, wants to leave for a new challenge. The only problem is the financial resources, which the Catalan club doesn’t really have much of right now. If this transfer doesn’t really work out, Manchester United could be a win-win solution.

A big fight is also expected for Victor Osimhen, who is currently at Napoli. This lightning killer has a really bright future at the age of 23, he would fit the Hague’s system 99%, he just won’t be cheap at all, as the Italian outfit paid 75 million euros for him two years ago.

We have already informed you several timesabout the interest in Antony. The Brazilian winger isn’t exactly a classic pinch hitter, but the Hag could take advantage of the few alternatives he has and would opt for a tactic that is often used by Pep Guardiola or Jürgen Klopp.

Source: Transfermarkt, Goal, Sky Sports, Marca