Paul Parker: Cristiano Ronaldo doesn’t want Manchester United return… and it wouldn’t work anyway

Any club would be foolish to ignore Cristiano Ronaldo. He’s a constant threat, even at 32, and would propel Manchester United back into the title picture. Who else can score 40+ goals a season, every season?

Sure, it would also be foolish to spend ridiculous money on him – £140 million for a player who has no future sale value is obviously a risk, but that’s modern-day football.

But come on… surely everyone can realise this is all just a game? There’s no way Ronaldo wants to swap Madrid for wet, windy, cold – and occasionally snowy – Manchester. It might be an issue with his contract, it might be due to his tax case, but I honestly believe the story hasn’t leaked because he genuinely wants to return to Old Trafford. These stories surface every summer and the result is the same. Sadly, he’s using United to feather his own nest.

Why would he leave a place where he’s king? He may be showered with boos on occasions, but the Real Madrid fans still respect him for what he’s achieved. He was the reason they won back-to-back Champions League titles; he was the reason they won the Double this season. Why would anyone want to leave that?

OK, just suppose for a second that Ronaldo really is available. Would it even work?

Ronaldo and Jose Mourinho don’t get on. Their time in Madrid was frayed throughout, with the duo hardly speaking by the time the Portuguese manager departed in 2013.

Mourinho doesn’t like it when players are bigger than him and Ronaldo is mammoth in comparison. One of them would have to bite the bullet and accept they can’t be No.1 at Old Trafford. Do you really think either of them would accept the role of sidekick?

And then there’s another problem: Ronaldo isn’t a typical Mourinho player. Mourinho likes to sign players, then shackle them and get them to play how he wants. Ronaldo wouldn’t want that and neither would the fans, who remember Ronaldo as a classic United signing: the arrogance, the ability, the flair.

Alvaro Morata would be a good signing for United, if he’s available.

He’s a player that would excite fans, particularly after a season of Zlatan Ibrahimovic lumbering around the attack. He can run behind defences with intelligence and can finish, too. Marcus Rashford can develop both those traits, but he’s far from the finished article and is still some way from being clinical.

But the same problems surface as Ronaldo: why would he want to leave Madrid? How could he flourish under Mourinho?

The press can say all they want about a ‘done deal’, but Morata's not said anything. I think it will take someone in Madrid to say they don’t want him before he finally accepts his future lies elsewhere.

Look at the players Mourinho has pinned his attack on: Didier Drogba (Chelsea), Diego Molito (Inter Milan), Ibrahimovic (United). He even signed Emmanuel Adebayor while he decided between Karim Benzema and Gonzalo Higuain at Real Madrid. He loves having a pillar as a centre-forward. Morata doesn’t fit that brief.

And that’s why, once again, it seems like it’s nothing but paper talk. The press are desperate for that one big deal and that's why I’m not remotely convinced.

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