Gary Neville expects Cristiano Ronaldo to join an elite European club

Gary Neville expects Cristiano Ronaldo to secure ‘cameo’ role at an elite European club as he claims former team-mate will be desperate to stay in the Champions League ‘and prove what happened at Manchester United isn’t right’

  • Gary Neville has backed Cristiano Ronaldo to join an elite European club
  • Neville believes Ronaldo still has four or five months at the top level this season
  • The 37-year-old star is without a club after leaving Man United in November
  • Ronaldo is yet to decide his next move as he competes at the World Cup in Qatar 

Gary Neville has emphatically backed Cristiano Ronaldo to succeed in a ‘cameo role’ at a top European club after the superstar mutually agreed to terminate his contract with Manchester United.

Ronaldo was shown the Old Trafford exit door while on World Cup duties with Portugal in Qatar, starring at the Middle Eastern tournament as a free agent on the lookout for a new club.

The 37-year-old will now target a place in one of this season’s remaining Champions League squads as the superstar seeks to cement his space as the competition’s top-ever goalscorer ahead of Lionel Messi.

Cristiano Ronaldo is yet to make his next career move after being made a free agent at 37

Ronaldo (left) became the first-ever player to score in five World Cup’s against Ghana

Ronaldo was booted out of Manchester after appearing in a revolutionary interview with Piers Morgan that saw the Man United and Real Madrid legend slam his old club, manager Erik ten Hag, his teammates, and the Glazer family who own the Premier League giants.

Neville was also targeted by his former colleague as he was slammed for criticising the five times Ballon d’Or winner for his uninspiring performances and side-line antics so far this season. 

Ronaldo is expected to target a move to a top European club

However, Neville appears to have forgiven the outspoken star as he announced his expectations for Ronaldo’s next career move.

‘Cristiano Ronaldo is going to be looking for a top club on a four/five-month contract where he can go in and do a brilliant cameo role at the very elite of European football. That’s what I think his priority will be,’ Neville told Sky Sports in Qatar.

‘Stay in the Champions League, stay at the very top and prove what happened at Manchester United isn’t right.

‘I still think he has four or five great months in him somewhere and he will go in, score 15/20 goals in that period, everybody in Manchester will say ‘why didn’t we keep him’, the Premier League will as well. 

‘But he has got that in him and I think he will get to the end of the season and then think ‘right what is my next two years, what does the end of my career look like, what is my next football project?’

The superstar attacker has won the Champions League five times throughout his career

Gary Neville believes will now try to join a club competing in the Champions League

‘Is it in the US, the middle east, somewhere he hasn’t played in Europe before? I think Cristiano will have a priority to stay in the Champions League and to stay at an elite football club, that’s where he believes he should be and that’s where he should be. 

‘I hope he does really well wherever he goes, it didn’t work out in Manchester in the end, it was the right thing for the club to do to break ties and it was the right thing for Cristiano,’ added Neville.

Neville has backed Ronaldo to star in a ‘cameo’ role on a short-term basis in Europe

Ronaldo’s Man United exit was confirmed as the star reported for World Cup duties

Ronaldo is currently enduring one of his worst stints in professional football, scoring just one league goal so far this season before his undignified Premier League departure.

The global star has scored 701 club career goals and will be hoping to continue his remarkable goalscoring feats against Uruguay on Monday in Portugal’s second World Cup group game. 




Share this article


Source: Read Full Article