Bayern Munich chief explains Cristiano Ronaldo stance with thinly-veiled dig at Man United ace

A Bayern Munich director has explained his club's decision not to sign Cristiano Ronaldo this summer.

The Manchester United star informed the club at the beginning of pre-season that he would like to leave Old Trafford should a 'reasonable offer' be received. Ronaldo would end up missing the tour of Thailand and Australia due to 'family reasons'.

He returned for the last match of pre-season but only played 45 minutes for United. Ronaldo started his first game of the Premier League campaign away at Brentford but after a 4-0 hammering he lost his place in the starting XI for the visit of Liverpool.

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Ronaldo was linked with a number of clubs over the course of the summer with Bayern Munich, having recently lost Robert Lewandowski to Barcelona, reportedly interested. However, Hasan Salihamidzic has now explained why a move for the 37-year-old never came to fruition, while also perhaps taking a slight dig at the United forward when referencing his players being "in the prime of their footballing age".

Speaking to BILD's Phrasenmaher podcast, Salihamidzic said: "When you now see how our attack is equipped - even without Robert Lewandowski - it's just difficult from a sporting and financial point of view. We have eight players for four positions up front.

"We have established top players who are in the prime of their footballing age. We have talent that we want to give playing time to, so we all voted to go through with our plan.

"So that [signing Ronaldo ] was out of question for us. We are very happy with how we're equipped."

With just over a week of the transfer window remaining, it is still unclear where Ronaldo's future lies from September onwards.

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