Ronaldo and Portugal’s tournament came to an end on Sunday evening with defeat to Belgium, and the player is now free to focus on his club future.
CR7 had excelled at Euro 2020, leading the scoring charts with five goals in his four matches. But Sunday’s 1-0 loss to Belgium saw Portugal’s European Championship defence come to a premature end.
And the tournament exit means that Ronaldo is now free to focus on his club future, which is far from clear. The 36-year-old is believed to be open to a move away from Juventus this summer, with United and Paris Saint-Germain considered the front-runners.
And, with many of Man Utd’s other top transfer targets still focussing on the Euros, the club could use the next few weeks as a chance to get ahead in their Ronaldo approach.
Man Utd have perfect opportunity to test the water over Cristiano Ronaldo transferhttps://t.co/4cFd3AWsV4
— Express Sport (@DExpress_Sport) June 28, 2021
Ronaldo’s Portuguese teammate Bruno Fernandes let slip that the pair talk about United regularly during their time together with the national team.
“Every time I speak with him, he asks me how Manchester is and if everything is okay,” the United playmaker said.
“Everyone knows he spent a lot of time in Manchester and he has consideration for the club.
“He likes the club, I think he won his first Ballon d’Or here, so it’s a club who’ve marked him, for sure.”
Cristiano Ronaldo predicted his greatness
Cristiano Ronaldo always knew he was going to become the best player in the world, according to former Portugal teammate Paulo Ferreira.
Ronaldo has had an astonishing career, winning five Ballon d’Or titles to cement his legacy as one of the greatest footballers of all-time. He is the first and only player to score more than 100 goals for three different teams in Europe’s top five major leagues and has won an incredible 32 trophies for club and country.
But Ferreira, who played with Ronaldo for Portugal between 2004 and 2010 says that the former Manchester United star always knew he’d be the best.
Ronaldo made the prediction as a teenager #mufc https://t.co/eqqyvFk0dy
— Man United News (@ManUtdMEN) June 27, 2021
Speaking to Stadium Astro, the former Chelsea defender said: “I remember we were in the player’s room and he [Ronaldo] said that ‘one day I will be the best in the world.’ And he became it five times. So you can see how much he really wanted it and how focused he was.
“He really was a top professional and for me he deserves everything that he has and what he’s achieved and he will achieve more.”
Ronaldo broke the record for most goals at European Championships Finals with his brace against Hungary in the opening game and has since scored three more times in the tournament to extend his lead at the top of that table too.
