Chelsea could bail Manchester United out of Cristiano Ronaldo situation at their own expense

Cristiano Ronaldo has told Manchester United that he wants to leave the club this summer after the team failed to secure Champions League football. The question now is if he was to leave, where would he end up?

The Manchester Evening News understands that United's stance is that Ronaldo is not for sale this summer and they want to keep the forward till the end of his contract in 2023. But if the Portuguese striker wants to leave then it would be detrimental for Erik ten Hag to keep him around at the start of his rebuild.

And that's where Chelsea could come in. The Athletic have reported that new owner Todd Boehly is interested in the prospect of bringing Ronaldo to Stamford Bridge this summer as he wants to make a statement signing to mark his takeover of the club.

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While Thomas Tuchel admires Ronaldo, it is unclear whether he wants him in his side next season. And given he has just got rid of one ill-fitting forward who didn't fit his system in Romelu Lukaku, he doesn't want to make another mistake in the striker market.

The problems that Chelsea had with Lukaku are probably exacerbated if you replace him with Ronaldo. He likes the ball at his feet, struggles to play with his back to the defence and doesn't like to stay in the box instead preferring to push wide which cramps up the wings.

Given that Chelsea's creativity mainly comes from their wingbacks, having Ronaldo getting in their way and also removing an option for them to cross to in the box would be problematic. Tuchel wanted Lukaku to link the play up as well and provide pressure from the front which United's famous number seven did not do under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer or Ralf Rangnick.

But United are going