Liverpool legend explains why Man Utd must sell Ronaldo this summer

Jason Soutar
Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher during a Sky Sports broadcast

Jamie Carragher believes Man Utd made a mistake signing Cristiano Ronaldo last summer and insists keeping him next season would be a “bigger” mistake.

Ronaldo made a sensational return to Old Trafford last August after initially leaving the Premier League club in 2009.

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He joined on a two-year contract, with the option to extend for a further year, for a reported £13.5m fee.

Former Liverpool defender Carragher has always said that Man Utd’s decision to bring back the club legend was a mistake.

And in his Telegraph column, the 44-year-old has insisted that it would be a ‘bigger mistake’ to not sell Ronaldo in the summer.

Carragher said (quotes via Manchester Evening News): “Cristiano Ronaldo’s invaluable contribution to Manchester United’s Premier League win over Brighton was another reminder of his unparalleled appetite for goals.

“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.

“I know how contentious that sounds. It is easy to list the many magnificent qualities Ronaldo possesses which make him one of the greatest players we have seen. He remains one of the ultimate goalscorers, having evolved to become a penalty box predator, liable to deliver when his team most needs it – as against Villarreal and Atalanta – to prolong United’s Champions League campaign.

“You would not bet against him scoring over 20 goals this season.

“’Where would United be without his goals,’ is something you often hear.

“Well, we already have an answer to that. United scored 121 in all competitions in 2020-21, their highest tally for 14 years. That is because they were a more balanced, unified team than now.”

Explaining why he did not agree with the Red Devils’ decision to re-sign Ronaldo last summer, the Liverpool legend continued: “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.

“Look at Europe’s best performing teams today and the clearest measure of how football has changed is how multi-functional the elite players are. During my career, there was a tendency to focus on one facet of the job.

“You would hear coaches telling goalkeepers to concentrate primarily on making saves, defenders and midfielders to win their personal duels with opponents, wide men to make chances and strikers to ‘just score goals’.”

Manchester United Cristiano Ronaldo

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