“United should allow him to go.”
Wayne Rooney knows first hand just what it’s like to play alongside the incredible Cristiano Ronaldo, and the impact he can bring to your team.
The two played together at Manchester United during one of the most dominant eras of Alex Ferguson’s tenure at the club, where anything less than several trophies at the end of the season would be deemed as a failure.
Although it was initially Rooney who was tagged as the wonder kid who would bring The Red Devils to glory, it wasn’t long before Ronaldo’s star began to outshine him.
Despite finishing his career with bucket loads of trophies and even becoming the club’s all-time top goal scorer, what the Portuguese star did between 2006 and 2009, has cemented his place in Old Trafford history as one of the greatest to play for the club.
Together they were an almost unstoppable force, tearing apart Premier League squads at the weekend, and destroying European teams during the week in the Champion’s League.
Since then Rooney has retired and gone into management but his former colleague is still going strong, and on his return to their old club last year he finished the season as the team’s top scorer.
However, the former England forward does not believe that United should hold onto his old striking partner, and explains why in his recent column with The Times.
“It’s not that Ronaldo can’t play in a Ten Hag team. He can play in any team. Ronny will always score you goals.
“But my personal view is that United aren’t ready to challenge for the title now, so the aim has to be to build a team that can win the league in the next three to four years, and you have to plan for that.
“If the reports are true that Cristiano wants to leave the club, then United should allow him to go and get a No 9 in who is going to be there for the next three or four years and really help them build a team that can be successful. Ten Hag has to be given time to do it.”
