Manchester United interim coach Ralf Rangnick shed more light on the future of talismanic Portuguese striker Cristiano Ronaldo, at the Premier League club, following their draw against Chelsea. 

At the post-match conference, after United won a much-needed point against Thomas Tuchel’s boys in blue, Rangnick said “This is something that we should speak about between Erik and the board and myself. Cristiano has another year of contract”, adding, “It is also important to find out what he wants if he wants to stay.” 

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The German was referring to Ajax manager Erik ten Hag who has been confirmed to be arriving at United, in a hope that strategic managerial changes will improve the Red Devils’ form, as the side has lacked a distinctive style of play since Sir Alex Ferguson departed. 

Rangnick also emphasized that United would be in the market looking for a new striker when the transfer window opens. However, it remains to be seen whether the Old Trafford side can attract desired talent, considering they aren’t likely to play in the upcoming Champions League. Reportedly, this was a sticking point which dampened the club’s talks with representatives of Chelsea’s Antonio Rudiger, the defender who’ll be leaving Stamford Bridge when the current season comes to an end.

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The 63-year-old, who will move into a consultancy role at United with ten Hag’s arrival, also said in a Sky Sports interview, “In the end, it’s both Erik’s and also Cris’s decision what they want to do. It is not for me to speak about that but, today, the performance of Cris was really great.” 

In the last few games, United has been largely reliant on Ronaldo to see them through. The win against Norwich came with Ronaldo’s hattrick, and even the single goal against Arsenal was netted by the Portuguese, who returned after the death of his son. In the Liverpool fixture, which Ronaldo missed due to this personal tragedy, United didn’t score a single goal against Jurgen Klopp’s side. 

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However, Rangnick doesn’t feel Ronaldo is solely responsible for whatever success United has had, despite him scoring eight of United’s last nine goals. 

He said, “We have to still be fair with the players. We had quite a few other players scoring goals, I remember, in my first 10 games, we had 10 different goalscorers. It is how many opportunities can we create and how many goalscorers”, concluding, “Right now, we very much rely on Cristiano, he also showed a good performance when Chelsea were in possession. But there has to be a focus on bringing in a couple of new strikers for sure.”