Gary Pallister tells Manchester United what role Cristiano Ronaldo should have next season

Gary Pallister is not surprised that Erik ten Hag has decided to include Cristiano Ronaldo in his plans for next season.

Even though Manchester United endured a terrible 2021/22 season, finishing on their lowest ever Premier League points tally, Ronaldo still performed brilliantly in his first campaign back at Old Trafford. Despite United's general struggles, the Portugal captain continued to deliver in front of goal, scoring 24 times.

However, his goals weren't enough to prevent United from missing out on a Champions League place and, as a result, there was growing concern that Ronaldo may look to move on again this summer to keep playing in Europe's top competition. Thankfully for fans, that doesn't appear to be the case as he has revealed he remains happy at the club and is looking forward to working with Ten Hag.

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There were also some who questioned whether Ronaldo would suit Ten Hag's style but there has been no sign from the Dutchman that he wants rid of the 37-year-old. Pallister believes it is a no-brainer for the new manager to utilise Ronaldo.

“What a player Ronaldo has been over the years," Pallister told Lord Ping. "I was looking at it last year thinking 'how is this going to plan out'.

"He still scored a bag full of goals for a team that was struggling. If he was playing for a better side, you wonder how many more goals he would have scored. He's just a machine when he comes to that.

"I thought his best form was certainly towards the end of the season. I thought his general play was much better than the early part of the season. I thought he realised he was going to have to work a bit harder. He was prepared to help