France International and Real Madrid star Karim Benzema has suggested that the departure of Cristiano Ronaldo can be beneficial to Manchester United.
The France international has played with Cristiano Ronaldo as an attacking partner at Real Madrid. The duo has won the La Liga, Champions League, Copa Del Rey, Club World Cup, and other trophies together at Real Madrid.
Cristiano Ronaldo has generated much reactions and headlines after he made it clear that he wants to leave Manchester United. The five-times Ballon d ‘Or winner returned to Manchester United in a dramatic deal that saw him switch from Juventus to the Old Trafford club. Just a year in his second spell with the club, he has called for an exit.
Some reasons have been advanced by pundits for Ronaldo’s call for Man United’s exit. The lack of Champions League football next season has been one of the reasons Ronaldo is opting to leave the Old Trafford club.
Manchester United finished in the 6th position in the 2021-2022 Premier League table. The Red Devils have Europa League on the card, but no Champions League football.
Ronaldo has toured top clubs in top leagues around Europe and has not failed to play in the Champions League in 17 years. He is the leading all-time top-scorer in the competition with 140 goals followed by Lionel Messi with 125 goals.
There are speculations that the need to build on his Champions League goal tally has been the reason behind Ronaldo’s push for Old Trafford’s exit.
Messi joined PSG in the Champions League this summer and may likely reduce the 15 goals difference or surpass it.
This, according to some pundits, is a major reason Ronaldo is pushing for an exit.
Meanwhile, his well-revered agent, Jorge Mendez has made it known that Ronaldo is ready to take a pay cut to join any team to play in this season’s Champions League. A lack of drive and seriousness in the transfer market and an unexpected 25% slash in players’ salaries by Manchester United is also the reason for Cristiano Ronaldo’s intended departure.
Ronaldo scored 24 goals for Manchester United last season in all competitions, but that was not enough to alter the misfortunes of the club.
Manchester United have started another season with a very poor result. The team lost their opening Premier League match to Brighton. German international Pascal Gross struck twice to hand Erik Ten Hag a nightmarish Premier League opener, losing 2-1 to the Seagulls. Ronaldo started from the bench in the second half and was obviously unhappy with the outcome of the encounter.
Although Ten Hag is eager to work with Ronaldo, some pundits think that Ronaldo should be allowed to leave. They believe that Ronaldo should not have a place in the new Man United setup under new manager Erik Ten Hag.
Former Lyon and France international, Karim Benzema appears to have affirmed this when he spoke of how Ronaldo shaped Real Madrid and reduced him to only an assist-giver at the Spanish club. According to Benzema, he was able to emerge as a full goal-scorer for the Merengues when Ronaldo left the team.
“I’ve indeed scored many more goals”, Karim Benzema said. “But when Cristiano was here, we had a different style of play, I was providing more assists. He really helped me on and off the pitch. But at that time, I did know that I could do more, and when he left, it was the time to change my game, change my ambitions and I am doing that well at the moment.”
Los 1⃣5⃣ 𝐆𝐎𝐋𝐄𝐒 de @Benzema la pasada #UCL 🍿🍿🍿
— Liga de Campeones (@LigadeCampeones) August 9, 2022
¿Marcará en la #SuperCup? 🤔 pic.twitter.com/s9rqFwkpbJ
Is Ronaldo The Cause Of Man United’s Problem?
Erik Ten Hag benched Cristiano Ronaldo over concerns of his fitness. Due to Martial’s injury, Ten Hag improvised the Man United attack with Christian Eriksen, which turned out to be a disaster. After the introduction of Ronaldo into the match, the game changed with United pressing more for a goal.
The Portugal international may be aging above Ten Hag’s preferred average age for his players but is still a crucial player for Man United. 24 goals in a season with a poor-performing team is no mean feat.
