Paul Fennessy

FORGET ALL the noise for a moment and purely look at the facts.

Before confirmation of his departure on Tuesday, with wages of over £500,000 a week, Cristiano Ronaldo was the Premier League’s best-paid player.

He was earning more over seven days than stars like Erling Haaland, Kevin De Bruyne, and Mo Salah, all of whom have consistently been producing better performances of late.

By contrast, the striker, who turns 38 in February, has three goals from 17 appearances in all competitions this season.

In some of United’s worst performances — the 4-0 loss to Brentford, the 3-1 defeat by Aston Villa — Ronaldo has started.

Generally though, for the Red Devils’ best displays — the 2-1 win over Liverpool, the 3-1 victory against Arsenal, and the 2-0 success against Tottenham — he has either come off the bench or not appeared at all.

Even the Portuguese star’s most sycophantic fans would therefore struggle to make a convincing case that he represents value for money on the basis of the 2022-23 campaign thus far.

And that is before you get to the off-field shenanigans.

‘Respect’ is a word Ronaldo referenced on more than one occasion during the now-infamous interview with Talk TV’s Piers Morgan.

Yet the veteran striker did not exactly exude this quality in a second spell at the club that originally made him a superstar.

The topic of Man United’s young players, who supposedly lack Ronaldo’s level of commitment, was one of several discussed during the interview.

“I’m an example,” said the same player who only weeks earlier had refused to come on as a substitute and on more than one occasion this season left the stadium before full-time.

Yes, the same player who demanded a transfer at the start of the campaign and when he didn’t get his way, opted to publicly criticise virtually everyone at the club.

Granted, there is a case to be made that some of Ronaldo’s criticisms are legitimate. He is certainly not the first person to suggest the team have failed to develop adequately under the Glazers’ ownership.

Had the Portugal international made these points when his stock was high upon arrival at the Red Devils, they would have carried real weight. 

Now, however, it is impossible not to view the comments through the prism of Ronaldo’s self-interest and obvious desperation to go elsewhere.

The player’s legions of fans will disagree, of course, but there is ample evidence to suggest he is no longer good enough for an elite club with grand ambitions.

Despite widespread reports indicating Man United were happy to let Ronaldo leave during the summer amid concerns his mood was affecting morale in the camp, there was a conspicuous silence from Europe’s top sides, as the former Real Madrid man looked to maneuver his way out of Old Trafford.

So while some fans and pundits insisted Ronaldo remained a world-class talent good enough to grace most squads, it seemed the majority of those in prominent positions within football disagreed.

Much was also made of the star’s lack of pressing and inability to offer much in build-up play. But the one unquestionable trait he guaranteed for years — goals — is now seemingly not even a given when you consider this season’s stats.

There are those, of course, who will continue to insist Ronaldo was Man United’s best player last season and that the club would have had an even worse season without him.

And indeed, he did register an impressive tally of 18 Premier League goals in the 2021-22 campaign — only Mo Salah and Heung-min Son, each with 23, managed more.

Yet look at it another way. Man United went from finishing second in the 2020-21 campaign, five ahead of Liverpool, to sixth the following season, 34 points off the Reds. Was Ronaldo’s arrival a symptom of the decline or merely an unfortunate coincidence?

The Red Devils went from being one of the best counter-attacking teams in England under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer to a side forced to completely rejig their attack and build it around an aging star whose powers were clearly diminishing swiftly.

Ronaldo’s goal stats may have remained strong but the team suffered as a result — a repeat of what happened at Juventus if you were to believe the words of Leonardo Bonucci and Gianluigi Buffon among others.

Moreover, presumably one of the reasons for bringing Ronaldo to the club was to provide a positive influence around the dressing room, yet key players like Marcus Rashford, Bruno Fernandes, and Harry Maguire, rather than thriving, saw their form take a nosedive in conjunction with the footballing legend’s unexpected impromptu appearance as last year’s transfer deadline fast approached.

Even one of the player’s staunchest supporters, former teammate Rio Ferdinand, suggested in the wake of his departure that the move was best for both parties.

And indeed, sometimes an iconic star’s presence can be so domineering and overwhelming that they ultimately weigh down their team to an extent. There are some Irish players, for instance, who believe the Boys in Green exceeded expectations at the 2002 World Cup because of rather than in spite of Roy Keane’s much-discussed absence.

“People were in fear of Roy… When he left, it let lads breathe,” Damien Duff once said.

Liverpool enjoyed their best years in the Premier League following Steven Gerrard’s departure.

Man United won the Champions League two seasons after Eric Cantona left.

The Red Devils repeated that feat two and a half years on from Keane’s controversial exit.

And you suspect that on this occasion too, Erik ten Hag’s men will be better off in the long term without their most famous player.

Whether the same can be set in relation to free agent Ronaldo, whose departure by mutual consent is reportedly set to cost him around £16 million, is doubtful.

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