Cristiano Ronaldo eager to exit Man Utd to not lose UCL record to arch-rival Lionel Messi: Report
Cristiano Ronaldo’s future at Manchester United continues to make the headlines. Ever since it was reported that the Portuguese captain isn’t willing to stay back at the Red Devils’ camp, his agent Jorge Mendes has been on the lookout for a new club where Ronaldo can begin from scratch and keep competing for major titles.
In the last EPL season, Man United finished sixth and, thus, Ronaldo will miss the Champions League (CL) football for the 2022/23 season if he chooses to stay put. Hence, he is eager to exit the club at the earliest despite not many takers at the moment. Nonetheless, a new twist has emerged in the Ronaldo transfer saga, on why he is too desperate to leave Man United .
According to a report in The Athletic, Ronaldo is not keen on playing in the Europa League this summer as he fears his arch-rival Lionel Messi could better his Champions League tally. In comparison to Ronaldo, the PSG striker Messi is gearing up to feature in Europe’s top-tier club competition. Unlike Ronaldo, the Argentine captain is also one of the favourites to lift the Champions League title next year, with his French club undoubtedly being one of the strongest sides in Europe.
Not much separates the two legends Ronaldo and Messi when it comes to the CL tally. The Portugal captain has scored a total of 140 goals in CL so far in his glittering career whereas Messi’s tally is 125. One can argue that scoring as many as 15 goals in a single season is certainly no cakewalk or a surety, it is to be noted that Messi is two years younger than Ronaldo, hence, he has every chance of surpassing his tally in the future.
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Coming to the goals scored in the group stage, Ronaldo is behind in this regard; trailing Messi by 3. Thus, this is an area where the Argentinian can consolidate and bolster his lead given that the former isn’t taking part in the competition.
Recently, Ronaldo held talks with new manager Erik ten Hag. However, reports suggest that even that hasn’t led to a change of mind for him. Hence, his agent remains on his toes to find a more suitable club to his superstar footballer.
Bayern Munich, Chelsea, PSG, Athletico Madrid, etc. have reportedly been in Mendes’ radar, however, not much interest has been shown by most top European clubs in signing Ronaldo — who is one of the highest-paying players worldwide.
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