Ronaldo saves United again, dual role for Rangnick

LONDON • Manchester United's season has been nothing short of a disaster.

Yet things could have even been worse had it not been for Cristiano Ronaldo.

The Portugal forward netted the equaliser as United drew 1-1 with third-placed Chelsea in the Premier League on Thursday.

His 17th English top-flight goal in 28 appearances - only Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah (22) has scored more league goals this term - prevented the Red Devils from slumping to their fourth league defeat in five games.

United have only pride to play for - they have no silverware going back to 2017 and, with fourth-placed Arsenal holding a five-point lead with two games in hand, a top-four place looks remote.

Ralf Rangnick's side just have three more league matches to play, so it is now about consolidation for the summer.

There will be plenty of upheaval at Old Trafford, including the arrival of incoming manager Erik ten Hag from Ajax Amsterdam.

A host of players are expected to leave on a free transfer at the end of the season, including Paul Pogba, so the Dutchman will have his work cut out to not only find replacements but also augment the squad significantly.

The future of Ronaldo also appears uncertain. The 37-year-old is out of contract next season but there have been reports that he is looking to move on, while Spanish daily Marca has said ten Hag is not interested in working with the veteran next season.

But given his form - he has been the club's best player this season - pundits like Marco van Basten have urged the outgoing Ajax coach to consider keeping the United icon.

Still, given that ten Hag sets his teams up to play with an aggressive press, which is far from Ronaldo's strong point, it leaves the question whether the pair will be a good fit.

If not, a parting of the ways in the summer might be unavoidable.

On Ronaldo, interim boss Rangnick said: "This is something that we should speak about between Erik and the board and myself. Cristiano has another year of contract. It is also important to find out what he wants if he wants to stay."

But he added: "But there has to be a focus on bringing in a couple of new strikers for sure."

Rangnick also confirmed that he will be committing to his two-year consultancy role at United, despite Austrian Football Association president Gerhard Milletich yesterday revealing he was the country's new coach, a role that had been vacant since Franco Foda's resignation last month. The German insisted he had the flexibility and time to juggle both positions.

Chelsea are also facing an uncertain summer, although that is pertaining to off-field, rather than on-pitch matters.

It was assumed the shortlist had been whittled down to three bidders until Britain's richest man Jim Ratcliffe, who owns chemicals giant Ineos, yesterday launched a last-gasp bid to purchase the Blues.

An official statement read: "Jim Ratcliffe, chairman of Ineos, has made a formal bid for Chelsea, for £4.25 billion (S$7.37 billion); £2.5 billion is committed to the Charitable Trust to support victims of the (Ukraine) war, with £1.75 billion committed to investment directly to the club over the next 10 years.

"This is a British bid, for a British club. We believe a club is bigger than its owners who are temporary custodians of a great tradition."

REUTERS