Cristiano Ronaldo (37, Portugal) of Manchester United in the English Premier League, who expressed his intention to transfer, was absent from the team’s first pre-season training schedule due to ‘family problems’.
According to the British daily The Guardian, on the 4th (local time), Ronaldo did not appear for the team training held at the club training ground in Carrington near Manchester, England.
Ronaldo explained that he was unable to attend training due to family-related reasons, which the club accepted.
However, neither the team nor Ronaldo revealed what the specific problem was.
According to the sports media The Athletic, this is the day when foreign players who returned to their countries of origin return to the team for the match A in June, and the team’s pre-season schedule officially started.
This is different from what Sky Sports reported on the 24th of last month that “Ronaldo will remain at Manchester United and will return for pre-season training in early July.”
Ronaldo, who played for Juventus, an Italian professional footballer, and returned to Manchester United following 12 years in August last year, has recently been at the center of transfer rumors.
The day before, American sports media ESPN reported that “Ronaldo told the club that he would like to play in the UEFA Champions League (UCL) for the 2022-2023 season and that he would transfer to another team this summer.”
Manchester United finished sixth in the Premier League for the 2021-2022 season and did not qualify for the European Champions League.
Ronaldo has a contract with the team until June 2023, but it seems that he has requested a transfer to another team in order to qualify for the UEFA Champions League.
In this regard, British media Daily Mirror reported on the 3rd that “Even if Ronaldo leaves the team, he has been informed that he must complete all pre-season schedules.”
Manchester United, led by manager Eric Ten Haach, who took over in April, will play a friendly match once morest Liverpool in Bangkok, Thailand on the 12th, and then move to Melbourne, Australia, where they will face Melbourne Victory on the 15th.
After that, he stayed in Melbourne and played a game once morest Crystal Palace on the 19th, then moved to Perth, Western Australia, to face Aston Villa on the 23rd.
In addition, following an evaluation match once morest Atletico Madrid, a Spanish professional footballer, in Oslo, Norway on the 30th of this month, they return to their home stadium, Old Trafford, on the 31st to play the last friendly match of the pre-season with Rayo Vallecano, a Spanish professional footballer.
Ronaldo is a world-famous soccer star who reached the top of the European Champions League in 2008 when he was Manchester United and in 2014, 2016, 2017 and 2018 when he played for Real Madrid (Spain).
At the FIFA World Cup to be held in Qatar in November this year, the Portugal national team is scheduled to play once morest Korea in the group stage as a striker.
/yunhap news