Jose Mourinho believes any aspirations retained by Manchester United to lure Cristiano Ronaldo back to Old Trafford this summer will be dashed and he envisages his Portuguese compatriot will remain at Real Madrid for the foreseeable future.
Ronaldo, who left United in 2009 and has scored 146 goals in 135 La Liga games, has two years to run on his contract at the Bernabeu and, with no agreement struck as yet over extending his stay in Spain, had prompted raised eyebrows in England by publicly stating he was missing the Premier League .
That had been considered as encouragement to United to test Real’s resolve to retain him but his manager of three years in Spain does not envisage the departure of the winger, who scored twice in Real’s 6-0 victory pre-season friendly win at Bournemouth on Sunday.
"What I know is that Real Madrid is such a rich club they don't need to sell him, and it is such a rich club I think they can swallow any offer a club can have on Ronaldo," Mourinho said. "I know Ronaldo loves Manchester United and the Premier League but I think he is going to stay."
Not alone
United are not alone in coveting the 28-year-old, with money-flushed Paris Saint-Germain having stated an interest in Ronaldo. Yet the recently appointed Real manager, Carlo Ancelotti, clearly also expects the player to sign a new deal.
“Everyone knows that he is a great player,” he said. “The most important thing for the club is that a player of his quality shows the utmost professionalism. That is good, especially for the young players who can see a world-class player working with that attitude.”
Mourinho is resigned to being without his Spanish trio Juan Mata, Fernando Torres and Cesar Azpilicueta when Chelsea start their Premier League campaign at home to Hull City on August 18th.
The trio are due back in London only 24 hours before the opener after Spain’s friendly in Ecuador. The World Cup and European Championship winners will play in Guayaquil on 14 August, with all three of Chelsea’s Spanish contingent expected to be included in Vicente del Bosque’s squad.
Chelsea arrive in Jakarta today to prepare for their game against an Indonesia All Star XI on Thursday, with the manager still assessing his options and his players attempting to impress. While youngsters such as Kevin De Bruyne and Romelu Lukaku are expected to stay at the club, Mourinho has already decided to loan out Nathaniel Chalobah, Lucas Piazon and Josh McEachran for the season to gain further senior experience.
Guardian Service
