Cristiano Ronaldo is currently in the spotlight. The Manchester United star wants to leave Old Trafford behind after just a year, with Chelsea and Bayern Munich both in the hunt for his signing. And, before talk of a potential move away arose, it was reported his presence at the club had upset the likes of Edinson Cavani and Anthony Martial.
Manchester United thought they’d struck gold when they re-signed Ronaldo from Juventus on transfer deadline day back in August.
But, despite scoring 24 goals across all competitions, the Portugal international’s second spell at Old Trafford is yet to be an unprecedented success.
Ronaldo did his part last term, emerging as a shining light amid a disastrous season under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Ralf Rangnick.
Yet he’s now ready to leave the Red Devils behind, with the veteran unwilling to spend a year playing in the Europa League as he enters the twilight years of his career.
It was reported by ESPN in May that Ronaldo’s presence at the club irked Cavani, who was their No 7 prior to his arrival.
The Uruguay international had signed a new contract last summer believing he’d be Solskjaer’s first-choice striker.
Cristiano Ronaldo wants out of Man Utd in this summer's transfer window (Image: GETTY)
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But when it became apparent Ronaldo would be coming back, Cavani tried to engineer a departure to Barcelona - only for the club to deny him his wish.
The publication quoted as a source as saying: "Cavani was (expletive) off by that.
"He did really well in a tough season during COVID-19 despite his difficulties adjusting to life in Manchester - he couldn't believe that it got dark outside at 3pm in the winter - but he knew he wasn't going to play with Ronaldo and wanted to join Barca.
“He ended up starting eight games all season at United and scored just twice, so nobody benefited from him staying, least of all the club."
Cavani had refused to give up the No 7 shirt for Jadon Sancho, forcing the former Borussia Dortmund star to accept the No 25 jersey instead.
Cristiano Ronaldo's presence at Man Utd had a bad impact on Edinson Cavani (Image: GETTY)
Now, Martial could benefit if Ronaldo goes - with the Frenchman recently returning to training at Carrington.
Cavani, meanwhile, is expected to move to La Liga - with Real Sociedad emerging as a potential destination.
Regarding Ronaldo, meanwhile, talkSPORT pundit Tony Cascarino thinks he wants to quit Old Trafford to protect his Champions League goal record.
No other player in history has scored more goals in the tournament than Ronaldo, who has netted 140 times in the tournament.
And Cascarino said: “Ronaldo is a player, as always, that has an ego.
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Cristiano Ronaldo saw Anthony Martial's mood change at Man Utd (Image: GETTY)
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“A lot of it is about him but the teams he’s played in have been successful, so you always go with that as a team player.
“Great, he scores goals, he gets the accolades, he’s one of the greatest that’s ever played the game.
“You can have all that and that’s fine, as long as you’re winning.
“When you don’t win, now you’ve got a problem.
“I said to you off-air, I’m a bit suspicious because he’s got 141 goals in the Champions League. Messi has got 125.
“He doesn’t want to not play Champions League football because he wants to be the greatest Champions League goalscorer of all time and that’s how Ronaldo is made.”