Cristiano Ronaldo told Manchester United he wants to leave the club this summer, The Athletic’s David Ornstein and Adam Crafton report.
Ronaldo would only push for an exit if United receive a suitable offer, according to Ornstein and Crafton.
The 37-year-old reportedly hopes to close out his career with a team that can compete in the Champions League and contend for titles. United failed to qualify for the Champions League after finishing sixth in the Premier League last season.
Bayern Munich, Chelsea, and Paris Saint-Germain have all been linked with a move for Ronaldo since the 2021-22 season ended in May. Ronaldo’s agent, Jorge Mendes, reportedly discussed a potential deal with Chelsea co-owner Todd Boehly in mid-June.
Napoli are reportedly interested in signing the Portuguese superstar as well.
Ronaldo has just 12 months remaining on his contract with United.
The 30-year-old signed a long-term contract with Liverpool on Friday, ending months of speculation over his future.
His previous deal was set to expire next summer.
Salah will earn around a club-record £350,000 per week, according to The Athletic’s James Pearce. His contract will reportedly run until June 2025.
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— Liverpool FC (@LFC) July 1, 2022
“I feel great, and (I’m) excited to win trophies with the club. It’s a happy day for everyone,” Salah said in a statement. “It takes a little bit of time, I think, to renew, but now everything is done, so we just need to focus on what’s next.
“I think you can see in the last five or six years, the team was always going (upward). Last season, we were close to winning four (titles), but unfortunately, in the last week of the season, we lost two trophies.
“I think we are in a good position to fight for everything. We have new signings as well. We just need to keep working hard, have a good vision, be positive, and go for everything again.”
Friday’s announcement comes after a lengthy round of negotiations between Liverpool and the player’s representatives. The Egyptian already said he’d remain at the club next season but had stopped short of saying he’d renew.
Salah emphasized in April that the holdup wasn’t about money. Reports at the time suggested he wanted to make around £500,000 per week.
Later that month, manager Jurgen Klopp signed a new deal until June 2026. He said he wouldn’t judge Salah or Sadio Mane if either of them decided to leave.
Mane had a year remaining on his contract before requesting a move to Bayern Munich. The Reds eventually sold the Senegalese star to the German champions for a reported €32 million.
Salah, who’s entering his sixth year with the club, is coming off another stellar season, finishing as the Premier League’s joint-top scorer with 23 goals in 35 matches. He was also named the PFA Players’ Player of the Year for a second time.
He’ll now lead Darwin Nunez and Luis Diaz in Liverpool’s new-look attack. The club signed Nunez from Benfica as Mane’s replacement in June for an initial €75 million.
“I have no doubt Mo’s best years are still to come,” Klopp said. “And that’s saying something, because the first five seasons here have been the stuff of legend.”
Salah joined Liverpool from Roma in June 2017 for a reported £43.9 million. He’s since scored 156 goals in 254 games for the Merseyside outfit, helping it win the Champions League in 2019, the Premier League in 2020, and the FA Cup and League Cup last season.
Bayern Munich are playing hard to get in negotiations for wantaway striker Robert Lewandowski.
Barcelona continued their crusade to sign Lewandowski but have yet to hear back from the German club about their most recent offer, which is worth over €40 million, according to ESPN’s Sam Marsden and Moises Llorens.
It’s the third time Barcelona have tabled an offer for the Polish international, who’s spoken publicly about his desire to leave Bayern Munich after eight years.
Barcelona’s latest bid includes add-ons that bring the total to over Bayern’s reported €40-million valuation of the 33-year-old striker.
But Bayern Munich officials have repeatedly stated that the club prefers Lewandowski to see out the final year of his contract, which expires in 2023. They’ve also expressed doubts over Barcelona’s ability to afford such a transfer given the club’s well-known financial restraints.
However, Barcelona have raised €207.5 million with the recent sale of their television rights, which could eventually help the Catalan side begin signing players this summer. Barcelona are also attempting to raise further funds by selling a 49.9% stake in their merchandising rights, Marsden and Llorens add.
Lewandowski scored 344 goals in 375 games after joining Bayern Munich in 2014.
Less than a year after he returned to Chelsea – the club that discarded him after just 10 league appearances in 2014 – for a huge €115-million fee, Lukaku has made a U-turn and is back at Inter Milan on a season-long loan.
To complete Wednesday’s switch, Inter parted with an €8-million loan fee and will potentially pay a further €4 million to Chelsea in performance-related bonuses, according to figures from The Guardian’s Fabrizio Romano.
The Belgian striker has reportedly agreed for his annual net salary to fall from €12 million to €8 million as part of the deal. Inter have no option or obligation to turn the loan agreement into a permanent transfer when the 2022-23 campaign is over.
Lukaku has four years remaining on his Chelsea contract.
The 29-year-old’s temporary move comes after he mustered a disappointing tally of eight goals over 26 Premier League appearances last term. In addition to his low-scoring campaign, Lukaku harmed his relationship with head coach Thomas Tuchel and the club when he said he was unhappy with the team’s tactics during an unauthorized interview in December.
He suffered a Premier League scoring drought of over four months to begin 2022.
“There’s a history of strikers struggling a little bit at Chelsea,” Tuchel offered in February after Lukaku touched the ball just seven times over the entirety of the Blues’ 1-0 win at Crystal Palace.
But he certainly didn’t struggle at Inter. Lukaku enjoyed the most fruitful period of his career in Italy, netting 47 goals and collecting numerous individual awards over two Serie A campaigns. His second season culminated with Inter winning their first Scudetto since 2010.
“I am convinced that I am in a team that can do great things,” Lukaku said three months before re-signing for Chelsea. “We can still win and grow, start a new cycle.”
After his sojourn in London, Lukaku now has the opportunity to start that new cycle in Milan.
