Cristiano Ronaldo's transfer threat already leaves Erik ten Hag with big Manchester United problem

On Saturday night, The Times reported that Cristiano Ronaldo had informed Manchester United that he wanted to leave this summer. Though reports had emerged over the past few weeks that his agent Jorge Mendes had sounded out potential suitors in Chelsea and Bayern Munich, this was the first clear indication that the club's failure to achieve Champions League football and match the forward's ambitions meant that he wanted to leave.

The Manchester Evening News understands that United still are certain that Ronaldo is not for sale and they fully expect him to be part of Erik ten Hag's squad next season as his contract expires in 2023, but as the Portuguese forward showed at Juventus if he wants to leave he likely will do so the club need to be ready.

With the transfer market in full swing, however, there are limited options available to United. And this could have a severe knock-on effect for the ambitions of Ten Hag this season.

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The ideal scenario would be that Ten Hag would be able to sign a striker who could instantly replace Ronaldo. Given players like Tammy Abraham and Victor Osimhen will be expensive, with both having price tags around the £100m mark, it seems unlikely that United would be able to acquire them this summer.

A stop-gap signing could also be considered, like Moussa Dembele from Lyon, but there are question marks over whether they would improve the squad and also whether they would block any incomings next season if United are unable to move other players on.

So what options does Ten Hag have internally? Aside from delving into the academy and finding a natural number nine in its ranks; Marcus Rashford, Anthony Martial