Ralf Rangnick to discuss Ronaldo’s future with new Manchester United boss Ten Hag
Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates scoring for Manchester United during the Premier League match against Chelsea at Old Trafford. Photo: PA
Manchester United interim boss Ralf Rangnick said he will discuss Cristiano Ronaldo's future with new manager Erik ten Hag and the club's board, with the Portugal forward's contract set to expire at the end of next season.
Ronaldo re-joined United this season on a two-year deal from Juventus, returning to the club where he won eight major trophies from 2003 to 2009.
The 37-year-old has scored 17 goals in 28 league appearances this season, including the equaliser in Thursday's 1-1 draw with Chelsea at home. Only Liverpool's Mohamed Salah has scored more league goals this term.
"This is something that we should speak about between Erik and the board and myself," Rangnick told reporters when asked about Ronaldo's future.
"Cristiano has another year of contract. It is also important to find out what he wants if he wants to stay."
Rangnick told Sky Sports in a separate interview that the final decision was out of his hands.
"In the end, it's both Erik's and also Cris's decision what they want to do," he said. "It is not for me to speak about that but, today, the performance of Cris was really great."
With Ronaldo scoring eight of United's last nine league goals, Rangnick conceded that team are too reliant on him but said the club would focus on signing new strikers in the summer.
"Right now, we very much rely on Cristiano, he also showed a good performance when Chelsea were in possession," Rangnick added. "But there has to be a focus on bringing in a couple of new strikers for sure."
Rangnick declined to speak about the possibility of becoming Austria's new head coach.
Asked if he had accepted that job, he said: "Tonight is about our game against Chelsea and I don't want to speak about anything else."
Dutchman Ten Hag will replace Rangnick on the bench at the end of the season. United are sixth in the league on 55 points, five points behind fourth-placed Arsenal, who have two games in hand.
While Rangnick cut a relieved figure after the gaem, Chelsea boss Tuchel was understandably frustrated.
Chelsea failed to score despite having 11 shots in a one-sided opening 45-minute period and blew their lead straight after Alonso's second-half volley.
"A little bit (frustrated not to win)," he said with a smile. "We were very strong on and off the ball, very dominant on the ball, very aggressive off it.
"A lot of ball wins, a lot of deliveries, a lot of half chances, a lot of spaces we found around the box.
"But unfortunately we lacked precision in the box, a bit of determination to finish it off, even very early in the match, but also throughout the whole match.
"Unfortunately when we had it we gave it away in one minute, so it started all over again.
"But reaction was good again, so I am very happy with the performance because it was a huge team effort.
"I think we showed what it needs to win on a big stage, in a big stadium, like on the focus level and the physical input level.
"We played with a huge team effort with a lot of quality, but unfortunately we don't have what we deserved, so we have to live with a point."
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