Cristiano Ronaldo to not travel with Manchester United for pre-season tour

Manchester United talisman striker Cristiano Ronaldo will not travel with the club for their pre-season tour to Thailand and Australia, Sky Sports has reported. As per the reports, Ronaldo has asked to leave Manchester United as he wants to play in the Champions League.

Manchester United will play Liverpool on July 12 in Thailand and then they will travel to Australia, where they will face teams like Melbourne Victory, Crystal Palace, and Aston Villa before returning back on July 25.

“Cristiano Ronaldo will not be part of the Manchester United party scheduled to depart for our pre-season tour of Thailand and Australia on Friday. He has been granted additional time off to deal with a family issue,” a United spokesperson told the Manchester Evening News.

“Cristiano remains under contract with Manchester United for another season and he is not for sale.”

The linchpin had joined Manchester United last summer and he was the team’s best performer in the previous season. Ronaldo scored 24 goals in 38 matches across all competitions for the Red Devils.

The Portuguese striker scored 18 goals for Manchester United in the Premier League and won a lot of matches single-handedly for the club. However, it was a horrible season for the Old Trafford-based team as they finished in sixth place in the standings after bagging only 58 points, which is their worst ever points tally in the Premier League.

Thus, it could have been even worse for Manchester United had Ronaldo not played for them as he was the solitary positive in otherwise a mundane season. The team failed to come up with a collective effort and ergo could not win silverware in any competitions.

Ronaldo, who is used to playing in the top-tier football leagues is reportedly not happy with the team’s performance and wants to play for another club, which has qualified for the Champions League.