Cristiano Ronaldo asks to leave Manchester United to play Champions League football next season

Cristiano Ronaldo has reportedly told Manchester United that he wants to be allowed to leave the club.

The 37-year-old was United’s top goalscorer with 24 after making a fairytale return to the club last summer from Juventus, but he is now said to be pushing for a move, according to a report in The Times.

Driven by the desire to play Champions League football, it is understood that Ronaldo has requested Manchester United allow him to leave should they receive a satisfactory offer this summer.

The view from Manchester United, The Athletic claim, is that the player “is not for sale and remains under contract with them for another year”.

Having played in Europe’s elite competition for 19 consecutive seasons, Ronaldo is staring at a first-ever campaign in the Europa League after United finished an underwhelming sixth.

The report from The Telegraph adds that Ronaldo is confident he still has three or four years left in him at the very top level and wants to represent a team capable of winning trophies.

And although the five-time Ballon d’Or winner had previously talked about how “happy and excited” he was at Old Trafford with the club set for a new era under Erik ten Hag, it appears he doesn’t want to be part of the Dutchman’s rebuild, which could take years.

“I know he [Ten Hag] did a fantastic job for Ajax and that he’s an experienced coach,” he said only last month. “But we need to give him time and things need to change the way he wants.

“I hope we have success of course. Because if you have success, all of Manchester are going to have success as well.

“So I wish him the best. We are happy and excited – not only the players but the supporters as well.

“I wish him the best and let’s hope that next year we’re going to win trophies.”

Ronaldo has been linked with a move to Bayern Munich and Chelsea so far this summer, with the Blues’ new chief Todd Boehly recently meeting with the player’s agent Jorge Mendes.

The Athletic claim that Bayern Munich are thought to have been told about his situation, while Napoli are understood to be interested, but Paris Saint-Germain are not currently among the clubs interested in pursuing Ronaldo in this window.