Forever-young Cristiano Ronaldo has let slip to his close pals that he is finally feeling his age.
The super-fit forward is getting the sense that time might now be catching up with him at Manchester United.
Since returning to Old Trafford, the 37-year-old, who recently celebrated his birthday, has endured largely disappointment.
Ronaldo is in one of the worst goalscoring droughts of his professional career.
And Ralf Rangnick desperately needs his hitman to start firing for United in front of goal again.
The Sun say Ronaldo has told friends he is feeling his age for the first time.
He has defied the odds statistically throughout his entire career, with some outrageous levels of consistency, especially with his goalscoring.
(Image: Getty Images)
But the Portuguese forward is yet to find the net in 2022 going into United’s crunch Premier League clash with Southampton on Saturday (February 12).
His form will be of real concern to United behind the scenes, and his admission to friends will worry the club who hope to be able to rely on him for at least another season.
Ronaldo could yet quit the Red Devils for the second time in his career this summer.
What should Ronaldo do in the summer? Let us know in the comments section.
(Image: Instagram – @cristiano)
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Daily Star Sport understands his agent Jorge Mendes is poised to hold talks with Ronaldo soon over his future.
United will have to qualify for the Champions League at the very least to tempt Ronaldo into staying another year, but even that looks a tall order at this point.
West Ham, Arsenal, Tottenham and Wolves are all pushing hard themselves, while Manchester City, Liverpool and Chelsea are well clear of the chasing pack.
Ronaldo is back in the starting XI for the game with Southampton, having been benched for the 1-1 draw with bottoms side Burnley in midweek.
The ex-Real Madrid and Juventus superstar has been left less than impressed by how the club has dropped off over the past several years compared to when he was at Old Trafford under Sir Alex Ferguson.
Ronaldo is having to work harder than ever before to help drag his team back into some sort of form, with the quality of the squad not at the same standard he was used to during his first spell in a red shirt.
George is Digismak’s reported cum editor with 13 years of experience in Journalism