Cristiano Ronaldo’s future is still incredibly uncertain after he told the club a number of weeks ago that he wanted to leave this summer.
After scoring 24 goals last campaign in a side that finished outside Champions League places, Ronaldo is keen to stay in the competition with his agent offering the player’s services to a number of clubs.
Although Ronaldo has a permanent status as one of the greatest players to ever play the beautiful game, his current status as a 37-year-old striker has been exposed rather brutally this summer, with pretty much every single big club in Europe rejecting the opportunity to sign him.
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Atletico Madrid have so far been the only club apart from Manchester United who showed signs of interest in the player, although it has been said that he would have to take a significant pay cut and the club themselves would have to move on multiple other players to facilitate the move.
Atletico Madrid’s fans are known to be one of the most passionate around, and they have now released a statement expressing “absolute rejection” of the signing.
"In light of the possibility of signing Cristiano Ronaldo, if it is more than a simple rumour without any basis, we express our absolute rejection of his hypothetical joining of our club," Union Internacional de Peñas Atletico de Madrid (Atletico's International Union of Fan Clubs) said in a statement.
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"The aforementioned player represents the antithesis of the values that constitute the hallmarks of our Atleti, such as the effort, generosity, modesty and humility of those who want to defend our values.”
The statement continues to explain that even if Ronaldo was to be able to guarantee a trophy, they wouldn’t consider the signing.
"Even in the highly unlikely hypothetical case that a player in steep decline such as Cristiano Ronaldo could guarantee us a trophy, we wouldn't accept his signing.
“The sense of being a part of our Atletico feeling isn't within his reach, unfortunately for him, and as such he could never receive our affection or recognition.
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"As such, we ask the club to reject his possible signing, if it has indeed been considered at any time."
Ronaldo scored 25 goals in 35 appearances against Atletico Madrid, including four hat-tricks and two Champions League final victories over the club, in 2014 and 2016, so it is no surprise how much the fans dislike him as a player.
This is almost the polar opposite to Manchester United fans, the majority of which consider the Portuguese player a club legend, being the only player to win the Ballon D’or while at the club since the 1960’s and winning multiple Premier League and Champions League titles under the guise of Sir Alex Ferguson.
Bayern Munich are another club who rejected the signing of Ronaldo earlier on this window in June, however the club were quick to rule out the signing.
Chelsea are another club who showed interest in Ronaldo as new owner Todd Boehly wanted to make a superstar signing, however manager Thomas Tuchel had ‘little interest’ in the prospect.
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Ronaldo is currently back at Manchester United now, training after the club concluded their pre-season tour of Thailand and Australia, and was in attendance for Manchester United’s 4-1 behind closed-doors friendly victory over Wrexham.
The player has reportedly recently asked the club to relinquish him of his contract amid face-to-face meetings with Erik ten Hag on Tuesday.
Featured Image Credit: Twitter/JaviGomezChTopics: Manchester United, Manchester United Transfer News & Rumours, Cristiano Ronaldo, Atletico Madrid, Bayern Munich, Football, Transfers
