Cristiano Ronaldo is a Manchester United legend but would his exit hurt this time?

Manchester United’s international players returned to pre-season training on Monday morning ahead of flying to Bangkok on Friday for the first stage of a pre-season tour taking in games in Thailand, Australia and Norway.

Cristiano Ronaldo and Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah are the main images used to promote United’s game against Liverpool in Bangkok next Tuesday, the biggest stars of England’s two biggest clubs.

Salah has signed a new contract to settle his future while Ronaldo was not at training and told the club it was for a family reason. The club accepted his explanation, but his absence only fuels rumours of his departure after sources close to the player said he wanted to leave United on Saturday.

United are adamant that they have no intention of selling their No 7 and that their best-paid player still has a year left on his contract, but in the smoke and mirrors world of football, where there are often at least two versions of the truth, fans sense something is amiss.

Ronaldo leaving will not hurt fans like it did in 2009, but then the club is nothing like as powerful as they were then, when United were the reigning world champions.

Ronaldo is 37 and, while still effective as a top-level footballer, the man who provided United’s greatest moments last season when he was by a distance the club’s top scorer, the majority of United fans would not be too concerned if he departed.

Ronaldo is both a blessing and a curse for United, easily the biggest name at the club, one who made his own rules on issues like when he wanted to speak to the media, one managers indulge, but his recruitment was also typical of United’s under the previous leading executive Ed Woodward.

In April 2021, United were linked to Ronaldo – which was