Thomas Tuchel was allegedly persuaded by Ralf Rangnick, former interim manager of Manchester United not to sign Cristiano Ronaldo.
Earlier this summer, the 37-year-old informed Manchester United that he wanted to depart in quest of Champions League football.
One of the clubs interested in signing Ronaldo was Chelsea, but after discussions between Thomas Tuchel and club co-owner Todd Boehly, they ultimately decided against it.
The Times claimed that Boehly insisted on the Portuguese star’s signing because he loved the notion of constructing the attack around him.
On the advice of a personal friend and former United manager, Rangnick, who oversaw Ronaldo’s previous campaign, Tuchel, however, rejected the transfer.
Rangnick’s comments shouldn’t come as a surprise since he already criticized Ronaldo’s pressing skills at the close of the previous campaign.
“Cristiano Ronaldo and I’m not at all condemning him, he did brilliantly in those games,” Ralf Rangnick said in an interview earlier this year.
“But he’s not a pressing monster. He’s not a player, even when he was a young player, who was crying, shouting “hooray, the other team has got the ball, where can we win balls?”
“The same with quite a few other players so we had to make some compromises at one stage, maybe we made a few too many – that’s also possible.”
Ronaldo was ready to leave Old Trafford for a team in Europe’s top league, so he missed the majority of preseason.
In addition to Sporting Lisbon, his hometown club, Bayern Munich and Atletico Madrid rejected the opportunity to sign him.
Ronaldo is still part of Erik ten Hag’s plans, and United has continued to emphasize that he is not for sale. But before the transfer deadline on September 1, their resolve might be put to the test.
This season, Ronaldo has only made one league start. He came off the bench to take the place of Jadon Sancho in Saturday’s 1-0 victory over Southampton.
Cristiano Ronaldo feared he wouldn’t be able to compete for the club’s biggest titles, which led him to desire to leave Manchester United this summer.
In the latter stages of his career, the 37-year-old feels the need to win even more, but it’s said he believes it may not be achievable at Old Trafford this season.
Ronaldo submitted a transfer request because he was dissatisfied with United’s performance in the previous campaign. Ronaldo’s main demand has been to play for a team competing in the UEFA Champions League.
He even skipped workouts and refused to accompany the team on the preseason tour, citing personal obligations. Since the season commenced fully, Ronaldo’s game time at Old Trafford has dropped drastically. He is yet to provide an assist nor score a goal in four appearances which is bad for his brand and his hope of getting a new club this summer.
As things stand, coach Thomas Tuchel will be eternally grateful to coach Ralf Rangnick who is now the head coach of the Austria national team, for reportedly advising him not to buy the 37-year-old Portuguese football icon.
