Cristiano Ronaldo’s agent drops Newcastle United bombshell as he plots Manchester United exit

Ronaldo is looking to leave Manchester United after falling out of favour at Old Trafford. The Portuguese forward revealed in an interview that he felt betrayed by the club while also criticising the owners and management since his return.

The 37-year-old returned to Man United last summer and enjoyed a solid first season back in England with 24 goals in 36 appearances in all competitions. But this season has been a different story as Ronaldo has found himself in and out of the team and has scored just one league goal so far.

The Red Devils will let the player leave in January providing a club comes in with a suitable offer. And Newcastle reportedly spoke to Ronaldo’s agent in October, according to The Daily Mail.

Ronaldo’s £360,000 per-week wage is likely to price out many potential suitors and would also fall outside Newcastle’s current wage structure which has the club’s highest earners on less than £120,000-per-week.

Newcastle head coach Eddie Howe has also been questioned about Ronaldo but played down the prospect of a move as the club look to invest in younger players with potential.

"He’s an outstanding player,” Howe admitted. “If you look at his goal record last year, it was incredible. For me, the transfer has worked, it’s been a success.

"He scored some massive goals last year, and some really late important goals in the Champions League. He’s still an outstanding player and should never be underestimated.

“We’re trying to provide long-term growth, we’ve got a longer-term vision. At the moment, we have quite an ageing squad, so we probably need to invest in more young players. That’s probably a big part of our progression, really.

“We need to get the average age down, so it might not be a signing that we would necessarily look to make – but not under-estimating the quality of the player.”

Bayern Munich have also reportedly expressed an interest in Ronaldo’s potential availability in January. Chelsea, Atletico Madrid and Napoli all rejected the opportunity to sign the forward. His former club Sporting Lisbon remain keen, but only if the player were to take a significant wage cut.