Manchester United have been told they should sell Cristiano Ronaldo to Chelsea, because the two teams can no longer be considered rivals in the Premier League.
United are in absolute disarray right now, with little direction on who might be coming into the team between now and the end of the transfer window.
Calling it a 'scattergun' approach would be mildly offensive to scatterguns, with Christian Pulisic the latest forward linked with a move to Old Trafford.
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At the centre of many of the problems at Old Trafford is Ronaldo, and the whole will he/won't he saga over whether he'll stay at the club.
Apparently United are now willing to let the 37-year-old go, having previously said they wouldn't, and Paul Merson thinks they should sell to Chelsea, and warned they should avoid selling to another team.
"Why is it their rival? They’re not top four rivals, they’re a million miles off they’re not going to get in the top four," Merson said of the option of selling to the Blues, talking to Sky Sports.
"They’ve got to worry about making sure they don’t sell to Newcastle [United]. They’ve got to start worrying about the club full stop I’m not being horrible. They’ve got to start walking again. Don’t start sprinting and worrying about the top four.
"There’s ways of losing football matches and you can’t be losing 4-0 to Brentford and that’s no disrespect."
United would have expected Thomas Tuchel's team to be one of their rivals to finish in the top four this season but they're already four points behind them.
It looks a tough ask for Erik ten Hag's side to finish in the Champions League places, with Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal all looking pretty good.
Manchester City will be expected to take up one spot and Liverpool, despite their own struggles at the start of the campaign, will likely be a second.
The final two places will surely be taken up by the three London clubs, with someone missing out, and that's why Merson thinks United might as well sell to Chelsea.
On how the five time Ballon d'Or winner would work at Stamford Bridge, the former Arsenal forward added, "Chelsea need a centre forward you’ve got two of the best wing-backs in world football, maybe even three now with Cucurella coming in.
"They play so far up the pitch. It’s not like when you’re playing for Manchester United where you’re playing from the halfway line.
"You play at Stamford Bridge and right from kick off, the amount of time the Chelsea wing backs get the ball down the side and you whip that ball in for Ronaldo he hasn’t got to run anywhere he hasn’t got to run from halfway and beat three players.
"Put the ball in the box and you’re talking about one of the best finishers in the world you don’t get 800 goals if you can’t finish.
"He won’t have to do a lot of running and I just think it ticks the box for me and it’s a no-brainer for a year."
Topics: Chelsea, Chelsea Transfer News & Rumours, Manchester United, Manchester United Transfer News & Rumours, Transfers, Premier League, Cristiano Ronaldo, Newcastle United
Ryan Sidle