Ronaldo told its ‘time to retire’

Cristiano Ronaldo is struggling with both club and country and during the match against Spain, he had his side's two best chances in front of goal but he spurned them both as he fired straight at the goalkeeper on each occasion.

Therefore, the five-time Ballon d’Or winner has been urged to “do himself a favour” and retire, with Antonio Cassano telling the Manchester United star he has reached the end, reports GOAL.

The Portuguese international is now 37 years of age and failed to secure himself a transfer away from Old Trafford during the summer window despite pushing for a move and being linked with clubs from Spain, Germany and Saudi Arabia. Ronaldo is now struggling for starts at United, while also coming in for criticism at international level with Portugal, and Cassano believes the time has come for an all-time great to call it a day.

The former Real Madrid and Italy forward has told the Muschio Selvaggio podcast, “At this point, Cristiano should love himself, do himself a favour and understand that, if he cannot reach a level, he must end his career. He has won everything, he has been a phenomenon. Now it’s time to retire.

“I have a lot of respect for CR7, but I don’t like him as a player. [Lionel] Messi is like [Diego] Maradona. He had to leave Argentina at the age of 14 and face serious physical problems, which speaks of sacrifices.”

Ronaldo has started just one Premier League game for United this season, with only 207 minutes seen in total, and finds himself scratching around for game time in what is the final 12 months of his contract with the Red Devils.

United, who have recovered from a slow start to the 2022-23 campaign to pick up four successive victories in the English top-flight, will be back in action on Sunday when taking in a derby date with arch-rivals Manchester City.