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Cristiano Ronaldo discovers 'Newcastle transfer decision' as Man Utd exit eyed in January
Cristiano Ronaldo is desperate to leave Manchester United and Newcastle had been tipped as a potential exit route.
Erik ten Hag to 'deal with' Ronaldo early exit down tunnel
Cristiano Ronaldo will reportedly not be making a move to Newcastle during the January transfer window as he looks to make an exit from Manchester United. The Magpies were tipped to be a potential destination for the Portugal captain given the riches of their Saudi Arabian owners - but it appears that this will not happen.
Ronaldo has been pushing to leave Old Trafford since the summer, when he handed in a transfer request in order to try and push through a move to a Champions League club. However, no move was forthcoming for the 37-year-old and he was forced to stay at the club for the current campaign.
His efforts have been renewed in recent days after a falling out with Erik ten Hag. The five-time Ballon d'Or winner refused to come on as a late substitute during the 2-0 win over Tottenham last week and was left out of the squad for the weekend’s fixture against Chelsea.
Ten Hag has told the forward that he will not stand in his way should a suitable offer come in for his services in January. Attention has now started to turn to who this club might be and Newcastle have been tipped to be in the running as a result of their vast finances from Saudi Arabia.
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However, it appears a move to the North-East will not be forthcoming, as transfer expert Fabrizio Romano reports that Newcastle would like to pursue different targets instead.
“There’s plenty of Cristiano Ronaldo speculation doing the rounds, and one story stated that Newcastle have decided against signing him,” he told Caught Offside. “Newcastle always wanted to go down a different path with a focus on young players. No news on Ronaldo, as things stand.”
Romano’s comments match Newcastle manager Eddie Howe’s previous statements on the Portuguese star, with the Englishman claiming his club would be looking at players with more potential instead.
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“We're trying to provide long-term growth, we've got a longer-term vision,” Howe explained when asked about the possibility of signing Ronaldo ahead of his team’s fixture with the Red Devils earlier this month. “At the moment, we have quite an ageing squad, so we need to invest more in young players. That's probably a big part of our progression, we need to get the average age down.
“So, it might not be a signing that we would necessarily look to make, but that's not under-estimating the quality of the player.
“He's an outstanding player. You look at his goal record last year (36 from 44 games), that was incredible. He got massive goals last year and some really late, important goals in the Champions League. The quality of the player is unquestionable.”
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