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Manchester United are playing down reports that Cristiano Ronaldo is unhappy at Real Madrid and wants to return to his former club.
According to Spanish newspaper El Pais over the weekend, Ronaldo is unhappy at the lucrative new pay deals given to Neymar and Lionel Messi, and wants urgently talks with Real about achieving parity with players he regards as his biggest rivals, despite signing a new contract with the Spanish giants as recently as November 2016 which is scheduled to run until June 2021.
However, United sources believe that stories linking him with a return to his former club have been leaked to the press in order for Ronaldo to secure a better deal from Real.
It is by no means certain that Real will go along with him this time, as the team is struggling in La Liga and find themselves trailing in 4th place in the table, 19 points behind leaders Barcelona. Ronaldo has been struggling for form and has only 4 goals to his credit in the league this season, his worst return since he has been in Spain.
There have even been rumours that Ronaldo might be benched but those close to the club doubt that manager Zinedine Zidane would dare, given the influence that Ronaldo wields in, and out, of the dressing room at Real.
Andy is an exiled English football fan living in Cyprus. He loves all sports but football is his abiding passion, and he still has dreams every now and then about scoring the winning goal in a Wembley Cup Final, even though his playing days are long gone. He follows most major leagues, across Europe at least, and has a favoured team in each. When he’s not watching, listening, reading or downloading podcasts about football, he spend his time worrying about his beloved Arsenal.