The former technical coach and assistant of Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United, René Meulensteen promoted the idea of Cristiano Ronaldo returning to Europe. He suggested that the Portuguese phenomena should consider rejoining his boyhood club Sporting CP to spark romance in the 39-year-old forward.
Ronaldo, who is playing for the Saudi Pro League outfit Al-Nassr, having joined them in December 2022 following the mutual termination of his contract with Manchester United — concluding his second spell early, at Old Trafford. The Portugal international has only one year left on his Al-Nassr term which is set to expire in June 2025.
“There would be some romance in Cristiano Ronaldo returning to Europe to finish his career off,” Rene Meulensteen told the Gambling Zone, “But, one of the problems we saw with Portugal is that the focus becomes all about Ronaldo. It was all too focused on him, which didn’t help, even though Ronaldo can still do a job as long as he understands his role and what he can contribute.”
Muelensteen added, “He also needs to understand that he’s not the same player anymore, not the same as Cristiano Ronaldo when he was 28. He can still play an important role in many aspects. So yeah, I think it would be nice for a lot of reasons if he returned to Europe, maybe with Sporting. It will be really interesting to see when eventually he announces his retirement from football.”
The former Manchester United technical staff believes Ronaldo is still capable of competing in Europe and must consider a return to the homeland to conclude his career in Lisbon with the club, from where rose through the ranks to climb the ladder of success.
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