Portugal skipper Cristiano Ronaldo has seemingly turned to an old friend after his side's elimination from the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar at the Quarterfinal stage when they suffered a 1-0 loss at the hands of Morocco. Having mutually terminated his contract with Manchester United and with speculations rife about his next club, reports suggest that Ronaldo will train at Real Madrid's Valdebebas complex until his future is decided.
Transfer rumours have connected the 37-year-old to Saudi Arabia's Al Nassr but with Ronaldo training with the club with which he won four UEFA Champions League trophies, many fans believe that a homecoming of sorts might not be too far away.
However, prominent sports journalist Fabrizio Romano has quashed such rumours, "Cristiano Ronaldo has trained at Real Madrid sporting centre Valdebebas in the last hours — on a separate pitch. Cristiano just working there to keep his form thanks to a great relationship with the club, waiting for his new chapter.
During the World Cup, Portugal split with Manchester United after an explosive interview with British journalist Piers Morgan.
“Cristiano Ronaldo is to leave Manchester United by mutual agreement, with immediate effect. The club thanks him for his immense contribution across two spells at Old Trafford, scoring 145 goals in 346 appearances, and wishes him and his family well in the future. Everyone at Manchester United remains focused on continuing the team’s progress under Erik ten Hag and working together to deliver success on the pitch," the small and drab release said on the club's official website.
After spells with Real Madrid and Juventus, Ronaldo moved back to England to join the red side of Manchester and finished as the highest goalscorer for his team in the 21-22 campaign. He scored 24 goals in all competitions, 18 of those goals being in the Premier League.
After being used as a glorified substitute under new head coach Erik Ten Hag, Ronaldo spoke out against the club management and hierarchy during an explosive interview with Piers Morgan.
In the interview, Ronaldo alleged some members of the higher-ups at Manchester United did not believe his reasoning for missing pre-season when his daughter was in the hospital. The five-time Ballon d'Or winner insisted Alex Ferguson convinced him to re-sign at Old Trafford but suggested 'zero progress' has been made since the legendary Scot left in 2013.
"I spoke with the director and the president of Man Utd and they kind of didn't believe that something was going wrong, which made me feel bad," the Portugal captain said.
