Jamie Carragher explains why Manchester United need to sell Cristiano Ronaldo

Jamie Carragher believes Manchester United should offload Cristiano Ronaldo this summer and says his departure from Old Trafford would ‘solve more problems than it creates’.

Portugal forward Ronaldo has scored 15 goals in 26 appearances since returning to United last summer.

While the 37-year-old has popped up with important goals – most recently in the 2-0 win over Brighton on Tuesday night – United have still struggled and Carragher believes Ronaldo is part of the problem.

Manchester United finished second in the Premier League last season but the club face a huge battle just to finish fourth this term, with Arsenal and Tottenham set to leapfrog the Red Devils if they win their games in hand.

‘Cristiano Ronaldo’s invaluable contribution to Manchester United’s Premier League win over Brighton was another reminder of his unparalleled appetite for goals,’ Carragher wrote in a column for the Daily Telegraph.

‘But it does not change this reality: United made a mistake re-signing Ronaldo last summer. It will be a bigger one keeping him next season.

‘My reservations about signing Ronaldo – which I first expressed last summer – are no reflection upon his talent and career.

‘They are based on the obvious contrast between the individual skills he brings to a team at this moment, as a 37-year-old, and how the game has evolved tactically at the highest level to the point where the strongest European sides want a specific profile of a number nine, or in some cases play without one.’

Ronaldo’s opener against Brighton on Tuesday was his first goal of 2022, but his ability to press and contribute to a functioning team has been raised as a bigger issue than his recent goal drought.

Carragher believes the problems were only ever going