Ronaldo, Kane, Tevez: A Premier League XI of players who tried to force a move

Cristiano Ronaldo took to Instagram on Friday morning to dispute reports regarding his handling of a potential move away from Manchester United.

The five-time Ballon d’Or winner responded to a fan’s post suggesting Sir Alex Ferguson had been forced to intervene in talks between the club and Ronaldo’s agent Jorge Mendes, calling the rumours “lies” and suggesting it was “impossible” for the media to go a single day without talking about him.

While there could well be some inaccuracies in the way the situation has been reported, it still seems pretty clear that Ronaldo wants to play his football elsewhere next season.

The 37-year-old swerved the club’s tour of Thailand and Australia earlier this month, citing ‘family reasons’, and has seemingly yet to train under new United boss Erik ten Hag.

Efforts to drum up interest in the Portuguese midfielder from other top clubs in Europe by his representatives have so far been met with flat rejection, but with the Premier League now less than a week away from getting underway, Ronaldo appears determined to find a solution that will allow him to quit the ‘Theatre of Dreams’ 12 months early.

While it’s premature to say Ronaldo has outright refused to turn out for the club again, we’re close to the point where that looks an increasingly likely possibility unless the player has a significant change of heart.

Cristiano Ronaldo quiz: How well do you remember his first season back at Man Utd?

The former Real Madrid and Juventus man isn’t the first major Premier League name to isolate themselves from first-team activities in the hope of securing a move.

In view of all the drama involving Ronaldo right now, we’ve named a full XI of Premier League players who famously tried to force a