Former Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand is hoping that speculation surrounding Cristiano Ronaldo’s future doesn’t affect the club’s start to the season.

The Portuguese legend has been angling for a move to a Champions League club, with the likes of Chelsea, Bayern Munich and Atletico Madrid having all been linked to the player. However, it now appears likely that Ronaldo will remain at Old Trafford and Ferdinand is hoping the issue is not a repeat of what happened with Harry Kane and Tottenham at the start of last campaign:

“As players, you just want the situation ironed out and sorted out immediately. You don’t want it lingering on and dragging on, I think Harry Kane had that with Spurs last year. But I think the reasons are different. Cristiano, there’s been issues behind-the-scenes with his family and health and stuff like that. You have to take that into consideration.”

“But if the reports are true – that he’s looking to move and what not – then you kind of want the club to nail that down so there isn’t a hangover going into the season. I’d like to think – if you’re looking at this as a supporter – this will be sorted out one way or the other.”

This is a crucial period for United, especially with a new manager coming in. Erik ten Hag is keen to re-energise the whole club and the Ronaldo situation has not made things easy for him.

The Portuguese striker is, though, very professional when it comes performing on the pitch, so you wouldn’t expect him to give anything less than 100%, but the fact that everyone is aware that he would rather be somewhere else makes it a very tricky issue to handle. Ferdinand is right to hope that things can be smoothed over as quickly as possible.