Cristiano Ronaldo has made it quite clear that he wants to leave Manchester United this summer, having avoided preseason training for the best part of three weeks. Yet the number of clubs able to accommodate him are few, due to both prestige for the player and his high salary.
One of the clubs that had surfaced as a potential option for the Portuguese star was Atletico Madrid. Following the departure of Luis Suarez, Atleti have a number of forwards, but only Matheus Cunha is a natural striker.
However speaking after a homage to the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, Atletico President Enrique Cerezo told Marca that the story was a fabrication.
“I don’t know who invented this story about Cristiano, but it is practically impossible for him to come.”
There were also reports that Atletico Madrid might be forced to sell players in order to bring in new signings this summer, with many pointing at Antoine Griezmann as the candidate to leave due to his high salary. Cerezo was asked if he was for sale.
“As far as I know, no. It seems as if people are counting it as a given that there is an open door and that’s not true. If the rumours continue to increase [in number], it will seem like it is true but that’s not the case.”
“The numbers are being managed well, but we had to sell for 40m and we will try to do some good things so that it is not necessary to sell.”
That final statement will be welcome news to the Rojiblanco fanbase. Diego Simeone could do with fixing some gaps in last season’s team rather than weakening the squad this summer and the finances had threatened to get in the way.
