Arsenal legend Perry Groves laughs off ‘ridiculous’ suggestions that Mikel Arteta’s Premier League leaders should consider offering Cristiano Ronaldo an escape route out of Manchester United, speaking to talkSPORT (15 November, 3.30pm).
What do Ronaldo and Piers Morgan have in common? Well, both have a track record of flouncing off the stage when things don’t quite go their way.
One month after storming down the tunnel and overshadowing Manchester United’s greatest performance of the Erik Ten Hag era against Tottenham Hotspur, the prancing Portuguese went public with his dissatisfaction of life at Old Trafford this week, via Talk TV.
The irony, of course, is that this is exactly this kind of behaviour that will have any potential suitors running for the hills; a fading 37-year-old on £500,000-a-week wages and boasting an ego the size of the planet Venus simply not worth the trouble in the eyes of many.
Where next for Manchester United’s Cristiano Ronaldo?
“It’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard,” Groves chuckles when asked to comment on suggestions that Arsenal should consider a move for a man who’s scored just twice from open play in 10 starts this season.
Arteta and technical director Edu Gaspar, Groves points out, have done an outstanding job putting together a young, spirited Arsenal side willing to run through a proverbial brick wall for one another. It’s no surprise that the Gunners have emerged as genuine title challengers after moving on from the divisive Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
“Ronaldo is Aubameyang times 20!” adds Groves, a First Division champion with Arsenal in 1989 and 1991.
“Also, the philosophy Arteta is putting together; no egos, humbleness. Put in the biggest ego on the planet and he’ll go and disrupt all that. Arsenal fans must be thinking (when hearing rumours about Ronaldo at the Emirates) ‘have a day off, mate’.”
‘Ridiculous’
Per the Daily Mail, super-agent Jorge Mendes is desperately trying to find his most high-profile client a new club for after the Qatar World Cup. Mendes reportedly held talks with Newcastle United in October.
Given the nature of Newcastle’s recruitment strategy, however, you’d probably get greater odds on Alan Shearer coming out of retirement to lead the line for Sunderland.
Graham Potter, the report adds, is not keen on the idea of Ronaldo joining him at Chelsea either. Bayern Munich have also distanced themselves from speculation.
“We briefly discussed Ronaldo at Bayern. Dortmund probably did too,” Bayern CEO Oliver Kahn tells Sport BILD.
“We also see the big picture of the Bundesliga. Of course, superstars like Ronaldo are an important factor in attracting attention to the league. He is one of the greatest of the last decade. But we quickly dismissed that.”
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