Speculation is already growing that Cristiano Ronaldo is plotting to leave Manchester United, just 3 months after he returned
- Cristiano Ronaldo is being linked with a move away from Manchester United just months after returning.
- Ronaldo faces the prospect of a first-ever season without Champions League football next year.
Cristiano Ronaldo is already being linked with a move away from Manchester United under three months after rejoining the club.
British tabloid The Express reports that Ronaldo may ask to leave if United fails to qualify for next year's Champions League.
Despite Ronaldo saving the side on numerous occasions, the club is in sixth in the Premier League table having recently been defeated by rivals Liverpool and Manchester City.
Manager Ole Gunnar Solskjær's job is increasingly at risk with the club currently five points away from the Champions League places, and showing little to suggest that the sort of upswing in form required to reach Europe's premier club competition.
As one of soccer's greatest ever stars, Ronaldo has played in the Champions League in every single season of his career, winning it on five occasions - once during his first spell at United, and four times with Real Madrid.
The Express reports that the prospect of playing in the Europa League, the secondary European club competition, is one that Ronaldo would find hard to stomach.
The newspaper also reports that Ronaldo initially said he wanted to stay at the club for three or four years, but predicted that should United fail to qualify for the Champions League then he may be out the door.
Another British tabloid, the Sun, has suggested that Ronaldo could join one of five clubs should he leave United.
One of them could be United's city rivals Manchester City, who Ronaldo came close to joining in the summer before ultimately choosing the red side of the city.
Ronaldo was reported to be on the verge of a move to City before United stepped in to re-sign the player who last featured for the club in 2009.
The Sun now says the door is not closed on a move for Ronaldo to the Etihad with City still searching for a striker having missed out on Harry Kane in the summer.
As well as City, the newspaper claims Real Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain, Sporting Lisbon, and David Beckham's Inter Miami could all be possible destinations for the Portuguese forward.